Another Day, Another War
by Raivis-Latvijas
Summary: When Russia and China go to war, Toris and his brothers are caught in the middle. Led by a tyrant dubbed Commander Braginski, will Toris and his brothers get through the war? Rated T for blood/gore. Pairings may appear in future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_ 'Another day,'_ I thought as I walked down a rugged dirt path, the rain soaking my uniform. _'Another day stuck in this ridiculous war.'_

I marched through the muddy terrain, following my fellow soldiers, whom were suffering the same plague of war I was. We had been marching for **three** days. We hadn't had any breaks to eat, sleep, or even refill our water canteens. We were starving in the cold, rainy fields. Many dropped dead as they walked, falling to the ground and being left to rot. We had only one medic. Just **one **medic for our brigade of three-thousand men.

That medic was _Private Tino Vainamoinen_, a small Finnish man who was awfully stressed, and looked ready to drop dead at any moment. Men complained to him of ailments that infected most of us soldiers. Raw, bleeding feet, fevers, hallucinations, depression, and so much more. Tino had reached his limits like every other man, he had to stop every once in a while at the side of the muddy path and cough up the small amount of contents in his stomach. He collapsed to his knees a few times, only to be picked back up by our ruthless, horse-riding commander.

_Commander Ivan Braginski. _He was a Russian who wore a wicked grin as his soldiers suffered. He had food, he had water, and he had medicine. He practically waved it in front of us soldiers, like he was the king of the world. _He practically was._

He oversaw everything we did, and if we weren't justified to do what we were doing, he shot us. He always had that silver revolver in hand, ready to aim and fire, ready to take the life of yet another soldier of the 1st Levyĭ Regiment.

The war had started due to tensions between Russia and China finally snapping, resulting in the declaration of war. The year of the declaration? 2051, twenty years after the nuclear war that left many countries non-existent. Everyone had to start from scratch, even the largest countries on the planet like America, Canada, and even Russia.

Many countries were lost in the Nuclear War of 2031, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and parts of Germany, France, Spain, and many others.

Though I wasn't born until 2032, over time I learned of the heavy casualties that had been taken the year before I was born.

The year was 2055, May 7th being the day the Great March; led by Commander Ivan Braginski; began. He led us soldiers south into China after recruiting us, taking us from our home countries, our cities, and our families.

I continued walking as I heard a gunshot, not paying any attention until I tripped on a body. _A_ _dead body._ I whimpered and scrambled to my feet, but it was too late. Commander Braginski had seen me fall.

"Private Lorinatus! Come to the front of the regiment! **Now!**" He demanded, tone being that of borderline insanity. I obliged and quickly made my way to the front of the pack despite my exhaustion.

"Y-You needed me, s-sir?" I stuttered, my voice raspy and hoarse.

"Da. Watch where you walk, Private. Or I must shoot you just like I did Private Dmitri Petrenko. We are organized soldiers, not a rag-tag group of renegades. We are the 1st Levyĭ Regiment. I expect greatness on the battlefield. If one man decides to slack, he does not belong here in this regiment. _Do you understand_?" He questioned, his deep violet eyes penetrating my weak mind. I was completely silent before he reached down from his horse and grabbed the front of my uniform, lifting me right up off the ground and holding me high.

"_Do you understand, Private?_" He repeated, pressing the scalding hot barrel of that silver revolver under my chin. I screamed through grit teeth of course. The pain was unbearable!

"D-Da, sir, I-I understand!" I stammered, he smirked and put his gun in its holster on his hip. He then placed me on the back of his horse, and I became utterly confused.

"Rest, Private." He told me, reaching back and grabbing both of my hands, making me place them around his waist.

"D-Da…" I muttered, I wasn't about to disobey such an order.

"Sir! Why does Private Lorinatus get a break? There are soldiers in far worse condition than he is!" I heard a soldier complain on one side of Commander's horse, within a split second the man I was currently holding onto pulled that silver revolver out of its holster and pointed it right at the soldier's face.

_**Bang.**_

Blood splattered the ground and soldiers standing close. The sight of the body hitting the ground with a thud was far too much for my stomach to handle. I hopped off the horse quickly and crouched at the edge of the road, spilling the contents from my stomach onto the cold ground. The trotting of Ivan's horse stopped and I could tell Commander Braginski was staring directly at me.

"Hm… Regiment, rest here!" He shouted, sliding off his horse and getting his polished black boots muddy. The entire march stopped and many soldiers collapsed on the ground, falling into sleep. I stood and wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my uniform, turning around only to bump right into my Commander.

"S-Sir." I stuttered, meeting his violet eyes for a quick moment.

"You are sick, da. Here. Drink this medicine and that's an order." A small bottle was placed in my weak hand as he said that, and he smiled. I had no choice; it was either I drink the bottle of medicine or get shot with the revolver Ivan still had in his hand. I chose the more logical option and popped the lid from the bottle, drinking the thick, foul tasting liquid quickly.

"You will feel better in a bit." And with that he retreated back over to his black horse, running his fingers through its mess of a mane. He tended to the creature with a form of gentleness none of us soldiers had ever seen before.

As I watched Ivan tend to that horse, I remembered something very important to me. _My brothers_. They were somewhere at the back of the regiment hauling carts of artillery and ammunition. Now was my chance to take a trip back through three thousand men to see if I could find them.

I turned and began to walk into the crowd of soldier, but a certain voice stopped me.

"Private Lorinatus, where are you going?" Ivan questioned, I turned to him and met his eyes yet again.

"T-To see my brothers a-at the back of the regiment." I answered; he looked at me in a sort of thought, almost like he was envisioning something.

"Take my horse." He said calmly. His words were lost on me. Had he really just allowed me permission to take his horse back to see my brothers?

"W-What?" I muttered in my own confusion, he cocked his head to one side a bit.

"You want to see your brothers, da?" He questioned.

"Y-Yes."

"Then take my horse back into the regiment and visit them."

"But sir-" He cut me off.

"That's an order, Toris."

I opened my mouth to reply, but shut it. An order was an order, so I lifted myself onto the tall, white; Orlov Trotter Ivan had called Ruslan. I could feel the other soldier's eyes on me.

I made the horse walk through the crowd of soldiers whom were all suffering. I saw more sickness and death at the back of the regiment than I had ever seen before. As I made my way back, my eyes scanned over the crowds, searching for my brothers.

When I finally got to spotting them, I almost wished I hadn't. Raivis was collapsed against a rock a few feet away from a cart loaded with artillery and mortars. Eduard was sitting on the edge of the cart, staring at the ground.

"Brālis. Vend." I called out to them in their native tongues, but only Eduard lifted his head.

"Toris…" He muttered, his voice weaker than mine would ever be.

I stepped off the horse and walked over slowly, wrapping my brother in a weak, but meaningful embrace. No words were passed between us as we separated, but I looked to Raivis who was motionless.

"Is he…?" I couldn't finish that question even if I wanted to.

"… I don't know." Eduard replied, walking over to Raivis and crouching down, shaking his shoulder lightly.

"Raivis?" He muttered, shaking our youngest brother's shoulder again.

"Raivis?" He asked this time a bit louder, almost like he was beginning to panic.

"…. V-Vend…" Eduard and I both let out sighs of relief as Raivis' breathy word was heard.

"Raivis, look." Eduard motioned to me and Raivis' head tilted upwards. Our eyes met, and I walked over. I crouched down and hugged him like I did Eduard; it pained me to see the condition these two were in. There was hardly anything to wrap your arms around. _They were so thin._ I knew they hadn't eaten in days, not a scrap of food or anything.

I let go of Raivis and his head dropped down, looking to the muddy ground. This is when I noticed that the rain had stopped, and the sun was peeking through some clouds. I looked up, the sun seeming foreign in this land. My face was warmed a bit by the glow of the bright star, and I smiled the smallest smile as I looked back down.

"If the sun still shines… Maybe there is hope." I said quietly, sitting on the ground next to Raivis and leaning back, resting on the rock.

"Varbūt." Raivis replied, making my smile grow. I knew when he said 'varbūt' it really meant 'jā'.

"You two stay strong, okay? I have to go back up to the front of the regiment…" I muttered, hugging them both one final time before standing.

"Ma veenduge see, vend." Eduard said, I nodded and retreated back to Ruslan.

I hopped on the horse and rode silently back through the crowded path of soldiers. Nothing was right about this war. Tensions had been broken, so what? This war was not logical, and it only caused casualties. No victory would ever be achieved this way.

At least, that's what I thought.

As we neared a barren field in the darkness of night, all was quiet. Too quiet. I glanced around as we marched, a sense of dread, anticipation, and fear in each and every soldier. Commander Braginski was simply perched upon his horse, his violet eyes scanning the area.

"Everyone… There will be blood tonight. We are in China." He stated, and just as he did that, from the center of the field a mortar round fired high into the sky. The loud boom shook the ground. The Chinese were using some heavy-duty mortars.

Soldiers scattered for protection, including me. I crouched by a rock, my rifle in my hands. I jumped as the mortar round hit towards the center of the ranks, and went completely speechless as a man's arm landed a few feet away from me. I scrambled away, distancing myself from the bloody, severed, and mangled limb.

I looked around and spotted my brothers towards the opposite side of the field I was on, they were setting up a mortar, rather clumsily at that. I had to get to them. If I was to spend my last moments on this battlefield, I was to spend it with them.

With an unusual bravery I stood from my place, braving machine guns and mortars, my objective was no longer to eliminate the enemy, but to be with my brothers. I crouched down and ran, rifle in hand towards my brothers who were finally firing the first mortar back at the Chinese.

I was stopped in my tracks though by Ruslan, that damned Orlov Trotter that held up Commander Braginski.

"_Where do you think you are going, Lorinatus?_" Ivan questioned casually, like bullets weren't whizzing by us.

"I-I…. uh…." Was all I could mutter being as frightened as I was. I knew that my place was at the front lines, not back with the mortar teams.

"Get up there and **fight,** or be a disappointment." He stated, pulling that silver revolver from its holster and pointing it forward towards the Chinese soldiers firing at us.

"_**Go.**_"

I didn't have to be told twice when he had that gun in his hand, so with much regret I nodded and started to run towards cover.

_**Ping.**_

I turned to where the sound of metal against metal came from and stared directly at Ivan's hand. It was bleeding and Ivan was obviously missing a finger. The revolver lay on the ground next to his horse's back hoof, along with a detached index finger.

Ivan cried out in pain but hopped off his horse and grabbed the gun from the ground with his uninjured hand, getting back on and riding to the back of the ranks where Tino was, obviously not planning on getting another finger shot off.

A bullet hitting the ground by my foot snapped me out of my daze and brought me back to reality. I quickly dove behind the rock I previously had hid behind, flinching at almost every bullet hitting around my or deflecting off the rock's surface.

'_**This can't end well…'**_ Was all that ran through my head.


	2. Chapter 2

'_**This can't end well…' Was all that ran through my head.**_

I sat there for a moment, trying to comprehend what was happening around me. Bullets where whizzing by, striking soldiers behind me coming up the ranks to fight. Men were yelling in their native tongues, most of which I didn't understand. The Chinese soldiers firing at us seemed to get stronger and stronger as our three-thousand man regiment got weaker. Our moral was low, that was for sure.

Soldiers were confused; Commander Braginski was supposed to be at the frontlines with us, fighting alongside his fellow men. His _handpicked_ men. A soldier of far more age slid beside me, clutching his rifle in both hands and looking me dead in the eyes.

"What are we to do…?" He questioned, I bit my lip and looked around, insecure.

"You are of higher rank than me, why can't you make any decisions?" I replied, the man scratched his rough, black beard and laughed a bit.

"Look at the patch on your arm, boy. Then look to mine, and tell me the difference." He stated, and I looked to the yellow star on my shoulder. It was outlined in red with the Russian word 'Первый' in the center. I then looked to the other man's and immediately saw the difference. His patch was shaped like an eagle, and was blue. There was a gray star in the spot of the eagle's eye, and the Russian word 'Вторая' going along the chest of it.

"You're from…" I couldn't finish the sentence. I was in the presence of a man from the Second Крылатый Regiment. The Second Winged Regiment.

Those soldiers were legendary, especially the ones from the second regiment.

"The Wings, da, I am. My Regiment was sent when we discovered the bodies of four-hundred men left behind on your trail. Our orders were to assist, and take orders from your regiment." The man nodded towards me.

"Commander Braginski has given me orders to fight… I suppose I'll give you that order, to fight." I said, he nodded and smirked, standing partially from his place. He turned a bit to face the approaching soldiers; I spotted eagle patches on the majority of them.

The man took a deep breath before letting out a mighty shout of Russian.

"_**БОЙ!"**_

I watched as the men with eagles on their sleeves surged forward, far past all the men from the 1st Levyĭ Regiment. It was an amazing sight.

I looked over the rock and saw the men from the 2nd Крылатый Regiment quickly picking off the Chinese mortar teams whom were hidden elusively in pits dug into the ground.

With shaky hands, I lifted my rifle and aimed towards a Chinese soldier who was exposed. I pulled the trigger and the led bullet fired out the barrel of my weapon, producing a loud bang as it did so. I was almost _prided_ as the bullet struck its mark, killing the man with a shot to the neck, but then I remembered the many men I had seen Ivan shoot in the neck. I also remembered the stinging of the barrel of that silver revolver under my chin. I started to feel bad for all the casualties, Russian, Chinese, and every other ethnicity that was fighting.

I looked behind me and went wide-eyed. My Regiment, once three-thousand strong now consisted of a bundle of injured and weak soldiers, estimating around one to two-hundred men. My heart sank as I looked down, my eyes looking over the bodies of the many, many dead.

"Wh-What the hell…?" I stuttered, sliding down the ground against the rock and setting my rifle next to me. I buried my hands in my messy brown locks and curled up in a ball, placing my forehead on my dirt covered knees.

I began to cry uncontrollably, who wouldn't if they saw that many bodies in one space at a time? It was inhuman, it was like a massacre. An execution of so many innocent men. My brothers or I could have been any one of them.

_**My brothers.**_

That's when I panicked. I jerked my head up and looked around for the two familiar faces, ignoring the fighting still going on between the winged Regiment and the Chinese.

I stood and focused my vision, blinking away emerging tears that wouldn't stop coming. With a slight sigh of relief, I spotted them. They were both collapsed against their cart of supplies. I rushed over, leaving my rifle behind, and slid in beside Eduard.

"V-Vend?" I stammered, his eyes opened slightly and he looked to me.

"Toris… W… We fought… For as long as we could… But… Heh… Chinese took out our mortar position…." He muttered quietly, weakly. I looked down to his hands that were placed over his stomach and opened my mouth to speak, but was utterly speechless.

There was a large part of his uniform torn to shreds and melted into a very deep wound. His hands were covered in blood, and from his midsection down was soaked in blood.

"E-Eduard… Oh god…." Was all I could manage to say. There weren't words in the world to describe the feeling of seeing your own sibling so weak, so injured, _so close to death._

"D-Don't worry about… me… I'm perfectly f-fine… J-Just get R-Raivis to Tino…." Eduard stuttered, nodding towards our younger brother, who was hopefully just unconscious, and not _dead_.

I crawled on my knees over to Raivis and took his blood-covered hand in mine, begging in Latvian for him to open his eyes and woke up or make some kind of noise. He couldn't possibly be dead, could he…?

A soft hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my prayers, and I raised my head to look to the person behind me. _It was Tino_.

"Move please… I need to get to Private Galante." The Finn murmured sympathetically, I hesitated but let go of my brother's hand and backed off.

I watched as Tino carefully laid Raivis down, my limp brother not making any sort of sound or movement. The medic checked Raivis' pulse on his wrist and neck before leaning down to try and hear my brother breathing. Tino bit his lip and glanced up to me, a deep, scarring, empathy in his eyes. He looked back down to Raivis and continued his medical ministrations, patching up the boy's wounds with a delicate swiftness.

"I-Is he…?" I muttered, unable to even comprehend the last word in that question.

"No… But… I believe he may be in a temporary coma…." Tino replied, obviously trying to put it as gently as he could into my mind. I let out a shaky sigh. I had no idea how to even respond verbally to something like that.

How would you? I mean, Raivis was my 15 year-old brother whom had been put through a massive military march, and was fired upon by mortars nearly right after we entered the fray. It was simply wrong, so morally wrong. There were many other young men like Raivis in this regiment, but Raivis was no fighter. He was an author, an artist of words. Before the days of the war he was writing a novel, but he didn't have time to finish it before he got pulled into the war.

I was brought back to realty by Tino moving to my other brother, laying him down as well. Eduard was conscious and could speak, but there was a certain level of uncertainty floating around. I didn't know if Eduard's sickening wound would kill him or not. As I watched Tino speaking calmly with Eduard as he tried to ease my brother's pain with shots of morphine, a certain Russian's voice intruded my negative train of thought.

"_How saddening. One brother in a coma, the other inches away from death. You may be left alone in this world soon, Lorinatus._" Ivan spoke, chuckling a bit. I clenched my fists, his words stung, and what really hurt was that they could possibly be true.

"Užsičiaupk…." I stated through grit teeth.

"What?" Ivan questioned. I stood and turned to face the Russian Commander, hatred flowing through my veins.

"Заткнись." I demanded, he smirked, and then began to laugh.

"Nyet, Private." He replied, and within a split second the barrel of that silver revolver, that deadly shining revolver, was pressed against my forehead.

His finger was on the trigger, and I began to tremble in fear. My eyes met Ivan's, and I saw pure insanity as his Cheshire-catlike grin widened.

"I hope you enjoy my mercy." He spoke before flipping the gun around and raising his hand up. With one mighty hit with the butt of the revolver, everything went black.

xxxx

When I awoke, I wasn't quite sure what had happened. All I could remember was staring right into the eyes of Commander, then getting hit.

I looked around, my eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness. I could hardly tell that there were stone walls surrounding me. I sat up from the apparent blanket underneath me and gasped a bit at the rattling of a chain. I then realized the shackle around my right wrist, and the chain attached to the wall welded onto it.

"Wh-what the….." My voice was barely a whisper, and even then it seemed to echo in the room.

"_I see you're awake, comrade."_ I immediately recognized the voice that spoke to me, his voice seemed to come from the ceiling. _"You are lucky I gave you mercy. You are simply too valuable to my regiment to lose, you see?" _Ivan's voice was calmer now than it was last time I heard it. Maybe he had gained a bit of sense, but how was I valuable to the regiment?

"What…? Ivan, I d-don't understand how I am…" I muttered.

"_Do you remember the night my soldiers and I took you from your home?"_

"Yes… What a-about it?"

"_After we plucked you from Vilnius, we knocked you out, da?"_

"D-Da…."

"_When you woke up, where were you?"_

"I-In the barracks in Novokuznetsk."

"_Nyet. You were not."_

"Wh-Where was I?"

"_I took you into the Krasnoyarsk Chemical Testing Labs. You were one of the unlucky few whom we experimented on. Oh, and not to mention we experimented on your brothers as well."_

"You bastard, what did you do to them?" My blood began to boil at the thought of Ivan and his scientists experimenting on my brothers. I didn't care what they did to me.

"_Do not worry, Private, the experiments were done with morphine. Eduard and Raivis did not feel a thing."_

"You crazy bastard! What did you do to them?"

"_I simply made the scientists test their bodies with some chemicals and some secret solutions. It made them very weak… Such a shame. They could not keep up very well in the march, da?"_

"It's your fault they couldn't!"

"_Nyet, it is not my fault. Your brothers are the ones who decided to wake up early from their drugged state. Raivis woke up three days before he was supposed to; Eduard woke up two days before. They both suffered a harsh physical consequence, they both became weak and clumsy."_

"What were the experiments, Ivan? What the hell did you do to them?"

"_Calm down, Toris. Since your brothers were so young I ordered my scientists to improve their strengths and, well, have a little 'fun' with them. 'Fun' being adding chemicals to their bodies, removing certain things, and testing the vital functions of their systems."_

"So basically they were the scientist's guinea pigs?"

"_Precisely."_

"What did you do to me?"

"_I was hoping you'd ask that question." _Ivan cleared his throat before continuing. _"When we took you to Krasnoyarsk, I had a plan for you. I made the scientists implant a chip in your skull, one we managed to salvage from the Nuclear War of 2031. All the information for our nuclear weapons, all the information for our weapons and biochemical warfare is quite literally in your head. Soon, the chip will activate, and you will begin to see numbers and words in your mind. These numbers and words will not stop until you memorize every single one. Once you have memorized them, you will tell me or a scientist. We will then remove the implanted chip, and destroy it so no one else can use it. Only you will know all the information, all the coordinates, all the plans. No other country will know; no other person but the Russians such as me."_

I couldn't even begin to reply to that. I mean, what are you supposed to say when your Commander tells you you've got a chip in your head that's going to cause you to see numbers and words?

"_When you woke up you were in a simulated barracks in Krasnoyarsk, meant to make you think you were in Novokuznetsk. When the 'Officer' came in, what did he do?"_

"He… He hit me with something and knocked me out…"

"_Exactly. While you were knocked out, that's when we took you to Novokuznetsk. That's when you woke up in the real barracks, with all the other soldiers, including your pathetic brothers."_

"… Why did you choose me to put the chip in?"

"_You seemed reliable. You were a promising figure. You are smart, da? We figured your mind can hold the information."_

"Then why am I in this… cell if I'm so important?"

"_Simply so you do not run, Toris."_

I lay down on the cloth underneath me, trying to absorb all the information Ivan had just told me.

I stared up at the black ceiling, and pondered.

'_What was to become of me?_'


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: I am very sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I had a lot going on with school and such, but now that I have a chance to update, without further inconvenience, here is Chapter Three of Another Day, Another War.

ooooooooooo

'_**What was to become of me?'**_

Days upon days passed of being stuck in that dark, quiet, personal hell. Nothing had happened yet, but I did manage to locate the place they had implanted the chip in my head. It was a few inches behind my left ear, in a place a never would have noticed if I hadn't searched for it.

I was glad for one thing though; a man had come down and unchained me from the wall, leaving me that way.

A bright beam of light blinded me as the hatch on the ceiling was opened, and I had to shield my eyes from the rays.

"_Are you sure today will be the day, Commander?" _I heard a man question, sounding unsure.

"_Da. We are going to move him to an above ground holding cell so he can contact us immediately when the information starts to rise. Be careful to keep him in your watch at all times. I fear he is a bit unstable, da?" _I heard Ivan reply, before hearing the loud clacking of his boots retreating away from the hatch.

When my eyes adjusted enough, I unshielded my eyes, spotting a ladder dropped down from the hatch.

"Climb up the ladder, Lorinatus." The man said, I stood shakily on weak legs and made my way to the ladder, climbing up slowly.

The area I came up to was some sort of prison. It was all gray, and all the cells were like the one I had just been brought out of.

I looked around for a moment longer before being grabbed by the man whom had ordered me up the ladder, his hand firmly clasped around my upper arm.

"Come with me." The man demanded rather calmly, leading me down the hallway past more cells. I could hear men screaming, perhaps prisoners of war, or soldiers like me.

He led me outside the facility, exiting out a pair of blindingly white doors. It was a bright early morning ray of sun that first met my eyes. It took me a bit to adjust, but when I did I studied my surroundings carefully. It was a parking lot filled with military vehicles, marked with the Russian flag. He led me over to the edge of the asphalt, where a few yards ahead a large, thick forest grew.

"Lorinatus, I want you to run. We are on the border of Lithuania. There is barely any security once you get past the forest, but you'll need to keep a close eye out." The man told me, motioning to the dark green trees ahead.

"Is this some kind of test?" I questioned. I was extremely suspicious of this guy. I didn't know him, and didn't recognize him from anywhere.

"No. I'm letting you go. I witnessed what happened to you at the battle, and no matter what Ivan orders me to do; I'm not letting you suffer here. Now go, before someone catches us out here." He practically forced a small semi-automatic pistol into my hands and shoved me towards the forest.

"Who are you?" I questioned whilst walking backwards slowly.

"I'm a scientist from Kazakhstan. Just call me Aalem." He told me before hurrying back into the facility.

I turned around and entered the forest, the surroundings seeming all so bright and untainted by war. If that Kazakh was right with what he told me, I most likely was around my home country Lithuania.

The thoughts surged through my mind of home. Where I was taken from and forced into the army by Ivan. If I made it through this forest, I would be able to cross the border and be home! I would be safe!

But then I thought for a moment as I walked through the dense shrubbery. What about the chip in my head? I had no chance of removing it on my own if I wanted to live to see another day. I had no idea what I was going to do. If I returned to the facility I would most likely be used again and again by the scientists and Ivan until I was let go. But if I ran and went home to Lithuania, I would be free, though stuck with numbers and such floating around in my head.

What was I to choose? It was so complicated.

xxxxxxx

I traveled for what seemed like hours until I stopped to rest, sitting down against a tree as the sun set, casting darkness over the cold Russian land. I curled up in a ball, clasping my hands together in front of my mouth, breathing on them to keep them warm. I closed my eyes, the wilderness was surprisingly quiet. The only sounds around me were the soft rustling of the leaves on the tree, and the wind howling above.

Memories played in my mind like a movie as I sat there in silence.

_A bright grin played on my younger brother Eduard's face as we embraced caringly, finally meeting for the New Year's party we had longed for. It was 2053, and we had been planning this for a while. We had gotten all the family together, a feat achievable only by a charismatic genius like Eduard._

_As we separated I looked to my youngest brother, Raivis. He was smiling happily, so excited, so animated. I hugged him tightly, muttering some Latvian in his ear, making him laugh a bit._

"_You and your sarcasm, Brālis." He stated. I patted his shoulder lightly. He was such a cheerful, wise kid for his age._

"_Haha, come on. Let's go on in and enjoy ourselves. It's great that we're finally here." I said, and not much after I did Raivis and I were ushered inside by Eduard._

_I looked around to spot our family members, greeting and mingling with a few of them. It was so nice to be in a place where you knew you were loved._

"_It has been so lo-_

_**56°56'56"N24°6'23"E**_

Numbers and letters flashed, interrupting the picture in my mind. They appeared bold and bright red, stopping the memories in their tracks and freezing my body up.

_**Riga**_

The capital of Latvia? What the hell was going on?

_**Valdis Krūmiņš**_

I then realized what was happening.

_**Latvian Academy of Sciences TARGET**_

This was the information coming from the chip in my head. It was telling me information, god damn it.

_**University of Latvia TARGET**_

I clasped my head in my hands, pain pulsating with each letter, each number, and each word that went across my eyes.

So this, this insanity, was what was buried inside my skull.

"G-God… D-Damn it a-all…" I cursed, groaning in pain. More files made their way into my mind, causing me to scream out in pain. I quickly bit my hand to keep myself quiet. If there was anyone around, they surely would have heard me.

"_Is somebody, like, out there?"_ I heard a voice call out, I flinched. Someone had heard me. If it was a Russian, I was screwed like a bolt in a wall.

"_Like, hello? Sveiki? Allo?" _ I flinched again as I recognized the words coming from the unseen person's mouth. He had spoken English, then _Lithuanian_, then Russian.

But I still couldn't be sure if the person was going to help, or send me back to Ivan and his scientists. I tried my hardest not to make a sound as the chip did its work on my mind. I tried so hard that my teeth broke through skin on my hand, causing the metallic taste of blood to bounce across my taste buds.

I waited for a few moments before releasing my bleeding hand from my mouth, rather painfully at that.

_**ATOMIC BOMB**_

_**FISSION**_

_**UNRANIUM-235**_

_**PLUTONIUM-239**_

_**HIGH RADIATION**_

Those five phrases felt like a knife driving itself into my skull.

I screamed.

A very _loud_ and very _obvious_ scream of pain.

I curled up in the fetal position, my hands clenching my messy brown hair, my whole body trembling in pain, fear, anxiety, and so much more.

I heard hasty footsteps of multiple people coming my way, and I had no time to react as two men emerged from the cover of the bushes and trees.

"_He's a soldier!" _I heard a distinctly British accent shout. A man with shaggy blonde hair wearing civilian clothes ran over, kneeling by me.

"_Of, like, what army?" _I heard the voice from before question, joining the Brit beside me.

I didn't move. I couldn't. The searing pain of that damned chip was so intense. It was crippling me. I couldn't get away from these two if I tried.

"_Russian Army… 1st Levyi__̆__ Regiment from what I can see on his patch… Come on; let's get him the hell out of here and into Lithuania. That regiment is made up of people who were taken vehemently and forced into the Army." _The Brit spoke, I would have let out a sigh of relief seeing that the two men were going to take me to Lithuania, but I was far too crippled by agony.

"_Hey, can you walk? We're taking you to Lithuania." _The Brit stated. I took a few deep breathes, desperately trying not to hyperventilate as I looked up, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"G-Get it o-out of my head." I stammered. The men looked to me in confusion.

"Get what out of your head?" The Brit questioned.

"Th-The chip! The e-electronic thing in m-my head!" I was close to begging now.

"Just, like, wait until we get into Lithuania. We'll totally get you to a doctor and like get you checked out, okay?" The other man, whom I noticed had a Polish Secret Resistance Battalion; or PSRB uniform on, told me. I could hardly move, but I managed to nod in approval. These two were going to take me to Lithuania.

The British man and the PSRB affiliate, both seeming completely serious, grabbed my arms and hoisted me to my feet. I was limp. My legs were far too shaky to stand on, and the intense pain in my being was faultlessly crippling.

"Just hang on, soldier. We'll get you out of here." The Brit reassured, but to be honest, I wasn't solaced at all. I was in serious agony. I just wanted the chip out of my head, and I wanted it out **now**.

"_P-Prašome, aš prašau j-jus. Atsisiųskite šį l-lustą iš m-mano galvos!" _I sputtered, the Polish man on my right side looked to me, going wide-eyed.

"Arthur, he totally just spoke, like, Lithuanian. He's totally got to be, like, from there." He stated.

"Alright, we'll ask him that later. Right now, just focus on getting him to safety. It was dangerous enough that we came so close to one of Russia's facilities, but now we have a runaway soldier. We're lucky he's alone, because if he was with a squad or with his regiment, we'd be screwed like a bloody bolt in the wall." The Brit, apparently named Arthur, ruminated.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to stop listening to the two men's conversation, but was soon disturbed by being lifted onto the flatbed of an old truck.

I opened my eyes and looked to the two, both having a sympathetic look on their faces.

"Can I, like, stay back here with him? Just to make sure, like, nothing happens to him?" The Polish man questioned Arthur.

"Suit yourself, Feliks. Try to figure out who he is if anything." And with that, Arthur retreated to the front of the truck, whilst the Pole, assumingly named Feliks, hopped onto the wood flatbed. He pulled the hatch shut, and looked to me.

"So, like, what's your name?" He asked nonchalantly. I was mute for a moment, furrowing my brow at the man.

"_My name… is Toris Lorinatus… Age Twenty-Three… Private 1__st__ Class... 1__st__ Levyi__̆ __Regiment…"_

As Arthur started the truck and began to drive down the road, Feliks' questions became more and more unimportant to me.

I was going home.

And I was going to get this chip out of my head, and destroy it.

No one deserved to suffer like this, not even Ivan.

oooooooooo

Author's Notes: Again, sorry for the rather late update.

The languages in this story, like the Lithuanian or Russian, I do not know. I use Google Translate which I know is completely incorrect. I just use it for the effect of putting bilingualism into this story.

I hope to make the next update a bit faster. But for now, here you go.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Notes: Here's Chapter Four for you. I tried hard to make the flashback interesting, so please, bear with me here. This flashback starts at the day before Ivan pulls Toris and his brothers into the war.

Feliks and Arthur get bigger parts in this chapter, especially Feliks.

And, in this chapter, if you aren't blind, there's a bit of Lithuania/Poland. The very slight pairings start up here. So, without further explanation, here we go…

oooooooo

_**No one deserved to suffer like this, not even Ivan.**_

It was night time, and on the country road I could make out the stars high above. They were still as bright as ever, but for some reason, they seemed farther away. I flinched as a bright red word flew across my vision, but continued staring up at the stars. I loved to sit back and view them back before my personal hell had begun. I could remember it like it was yesterday.

_Eduard, Raivis and I were lying on the grass in the park, the moon high in the sky, the stars beaming brightly._

"_It beautiful out here, huh?" Eduard noted. I nodded, placing my hands behind my head._

"_Yeah… It is. I wish it could be like this every night. That would be great, wouldn't it?" I remarked, smiling. Eduard grinned his classic grin, his hands resting on his stomach._

"_It would. What do you think, Raivis? Wouldn't it be great if we could just sit out here and watch the stars each night?" He questioned out youngest brother, who nodded a bit._

"_Jā." He said quietly. Raivis wasn't much for speaking English still, he preferred his native tongue; Latvian._

_It was odd how my brothers and I were born in different countries. Our father was Lithuanian, and so was my mother. They got divorced, and I remained in Lithuania with my mother. My father went on to have kids with an Estonian woman, and a Latvian woman. Eduard, Raivis, and I were raised separately until I was 10. Eduard was 8, Raivis was 6. That's when we were acquainted with eachother for the very first time._

"_Do you two remember the day we first met eachother?" I asked. Eduard chuckled._

"_Of course we do." He indicated._

"_I can't remember much, but I can remember parts." Raivis muttered._

"_You were kind of young, weren't you?" Eduard said, thinking for a moment._

"_I was six years old." Raivis remarked._

"_Yeah. And you were very quiet. You hardly spoke a word the entire time. Even so, I was really happy to finally meet you two." I expressed._

"_Yeah… Say, did Raivis even know English back then?" Eduard questioned._

"_I don't know if he did… Raivis, did you know English when you were six?" I inquired. My youngest brother had to ruminate for a moment, reflecting back on the day so long ago._

"_I think I only knew a little bit. Latvian was what I first learned… So I'm not too sure if I did know all that much English. I still do prefer Latvian over English…"_

"_I see… Well… It's getting late. Shall we head inside?" I queried, my brothers both approved and we made our way home._

_Once we got home, I lied down in my bed after changing into my pajamas. I stared up at the ceiling for a long while, envisioning my future. I was studying hard to be a businessman, it was my goal to start and run my own company._

_I didn't quite know much of warfare and battle, but seeing how things were going between Russia and China, I knew something big was going to happen soon. I hoped it wouldn't affect my home. I hoped that it wouldn't spread to the Baltics or Nordics, or to any other country for that matter. It was 2054, and Russia and China had declared war on eachother 3 years ago for what seemed to be no good reason. Things were only between those two, but casualties were heavy on both sides._

_I had learned of a war a year before my birth, and it had been gruesome. Many nations were lost. All throughout my years, I had heard of people such as the Austrians, and the Slovaks. They were forced out of their countries because of radiation and such, relocating to nearby countries. Lithuania and such countries along the Baltic Sea were lucky. They were not dragged into such a horrid war. That Nuclear War of 2031. I could have never lasted through such a thing._

_When I was young, my mother told me to never become a soldier. She grabbed my hands and practically begged me to never join the Armed Forces. She told me that only bad things would happen. She told me that only death, greed, and hate would spawn from the armed Forces, and that she wanted me to be no part of that. I agreed. I never wanted to serve._

_The next day, around seven in the morning, I awoke to a loud banging on the front door. I heard the door open, and my mother scream. That's what made me jump up and rush down the stairs, followed by my also awoken brothers._

_When I reached the foot of the stairs I halted. There were around five men, each in heavy military gear. Russian flags adorned their helmets and shoulder patches. Russians. They were here in my home. __**My home.**_

"_Aha, three sons! You will benefit us, woman!" The tallest man, wearing a recognizable Commander's uniform and a tan scarf shouted._

"_No! No, please! Don't take my sons! Please sir!" My mother begged, grabbing the man's arm. He quickly clenched his fist and backhanded my mother, sending her to the ground. She sat there on the ground, wailing as the four soldiers behind the Commander approached my brothers and me._

"_Come on, you're being recruited into our military. Welcome to the 1__st__ Levyĭ Regiment!" One man exclaimed before slamming the butt of his gun right into my temple. I was knocked out cold._

I was snapped out of my daydream by Feliks, the PSRB, shaking my shoulders.

"Hey, are you, like, okay? You've been mumbling things while totally daydreaming." He told me. I looked to him and nodded a bit.

"I was just… thinking of the night Commander Braginski took me from my home…" I muttered. He shook his head and sighed.

"He's totally not your Commander anymore. You're, like, in Lithuania now. While you were, like, off in space, we crossed the border. Welcome home, I guess." He spoke. I went wide eyed. I was really in Lithuania?

"What… am I to do here?" I questioned.

"Well, we're, like, going to get you to a doctor first to totally get you patched up and everything. You totally bit down on your, like, own hand. That'll get infected, like, real quick. And you totally mentioned something about a chip of, like, some sorts?"

"Yes… Ivan… Well, his scientists… They implanted a chip in my head salvaged from the Nuclear War of 2031… It releases information on nukes, cities, presidents, targets, etcetera, etcetera… It flashes bright red over my vision, and it hurts like hell… That's why I screamed… That's why I bit down on my hand like that…"

"You're, like, kidding, right?"

"No… You can see where they implanted it… Behind my left ear… Here." I muttered, taking Feliks' hand and placing his fingertips on the said location of the scar from the operation the scientists did.

He went wide eyed, covering his mouth with his free hand.

"Oh… my… gosh…" He whispered.

"… Gruesome, huh…? That's what they did to me… They experimented on my brothers too…" I muttered quietly as his hand dropped.

"You have brothers?"

"Two… they were both injured badly in the invasion… Raivis, my youngest brother went into a coma, I think… And Eduard… I don't know if he survived his wounds…"

"… We'll totally find them once we, like, get you patched up, alright? I promise."

"…"

"I'm totally serious."

"I believe you, Feliks…"

"Good."

"… You're a PSRB, right?"

"Totally. Polish Secret Resistance Battalion, 3rd Warsaw Regiment, Captain Feliks Łukasiewicz, like, at your service."

"Why are you… with that British guy searching through the Russian territory?"

"Arthur Kirkland and I are, like, in a joint operation called operation Search, Save, and Repeat, or SSR for short. The PSRB and the, like, British Secret Resistance Battalion, or BSRB, are totally working together to rescue, like, runaway Russian soldiers and, like, pull them out of Russia. We totally look to, like, your regiment and similar regiments. All the Levyĭ Regiments we are trying to, like, save. Understand what I'm, like, saying?"

"Yes…"

"Good."

"I didn't know Britain was involved in this war…"

"It technically isn't. The Secret Resistance Battalions are totally made up of, like, civilians. We aren't funded by, like, the government or anything, but we have all the respect of them. Back, like, when this war started, Poles like me totally started up the very first Battalion. The one I'm currently Captain of. We successfully pulled 300, like, soldiers from this unjust war before, like, other countries joined. The first two to, like, join were Ukraine and Belarus."

"I see…"

"We've got Battalions in, like, almost all countries in Europe. It's a feat I'm totally proud to be, like, a part of."

"Thank you… for your dedication to saving innocent soldiers…."

"You're totally welcome. Now, you ought to, like, rest. By the time it's, like, morning, we'll have reached a city."

"Alright… Thank you again, Feliks…"

"You're welcome. Now rest, Toris." He instructed. I nodded a bit and laid down flat on the surface beneath me. I closed my eyes, slowing my breathing by will.

I felt a soft hand cup the side of my cheek, and a pair of lips on my forehead.

"Sleep well, soldier."

I was too tired to protest such an odd action from Feliks. And besides, it had been a long time since I had been cared for in such a way.

xxxxxxx

I awoke in the early morning light to a gentle shaking of my shoulder, the hand on me predictably from Feliks.

"Toris, wake up. We're, like, here." He spoke softly. I opened my eyes and sat up. I rubbed my eyes, warding off the sleep from them and looked around.

We were in a city, a bustling one at that. There were civilians walking around and going about their business, a few cars were going down the road, but not many. The buildings were old-looking, many seeming to be at least from an era so long ago some called the Soviet Era.

Feliks stood as the truck slowed, and offered his hand to help me up. I willingly clutched it and lifted myself to my feet, getting an even better view of the city that surrounded me.

Some people cheered as the recognized Feliks, who saluted back to them with a smile. He must have been through this town many times after rescuing soldiers like me.

Feliks turned to me, still smiling.

"You're Lithuanian, like, right?" He asked.

"Yes. What about it?" I replied.

"That makes this rescue, like, all the more successful. You're totally home now, Toris. These people have, like, been receiving constant updates of the war, and have totally heard of the 1st Levyĭ Regiment. You're, like, famous here. We have a few survivors from, like, your Regiment here. They totally told us, like, about what Ivan did. Like about the Great March, where they fell. One of them, like, got shot in the head and, like, survived. Do you, like, know Dmitri Petrenko?"

"Ivan… mentioned that he killed him."

"Like, nope. Dmitri totally survived. He was, like, in a coma. He totally came out of it two days after we, like, got him to the hospital."

"Wow…"

"Totally. Well, speaking of, like, the hospital, we're almost there."

"Okay."

"Once we, like, get you fixed up, Arthur and I will, like, go to get your brothers."

"They were injured in China. Will you really go all that way?"

"No, like, innocent soldier gets left behind. Not here, not there, not ever."

"But how will you find them?"

"We PSRB have our ways."

"…"

"Just, like, trust me, okay?"

"I will… I just don't know if you'll find my brothers dead or alive…"

"Don't, like, think negative. They're alive, I'm totally sure. I promise."

"… Don't promise things you cannot keep, Feliks."

"But I can keep this one, I'm sure."


	5. Chapter 5

Authors Notes: That was a quick update last chapter, huh? That's kind of rare for someone like me.

But anyways, here's chapter 5.

ooooooooooo

I sat on the hospital bed, the white walls surrounding me in a form that made me partially claustrophobic. The PSRB affiliate Feliks, whom had accompanied me here, was sitting in a chair at the corner of the room, doing some paperwork of sorts.

A doctor strolled in, holding a clipboard in one hand, and a pen in the other. He had light brown spiked hair, and looked middle aged. He also had a distinctive scar on his forehead just above his left eye.

"You Toris Lorinatus?" The man questioned discreetly. I nodded, and he looked to Feliks.

"Got that paperwork filled out for me yet, Feliks?" He probed. Feliks shook his head.

"Give me, like, another minute, Valentijn." Feliks responded. The doctor, apparently named Valentijn sighed heavily and regarded back to me.

"Alright, Toris, looks like I'm your doctor for today. Once Feliks gets that damn paperwork done, you can tell me what's indisposed you, got it?" He stated. I nodded, and a sudden silence came over the room.

After a few minutes, I was becoming anxious. What if the chip started to release its hell upon me again? That would be rather painful, and not to mention frightening.

"Done, Valentijn." Feliks said, ending the anxiety-inducing silence.

I watched as Valentijn took the paperwork from Feliks, reading it over modestly.

"Alright, so what's brought you here?" He asked.

"Well…" I started. "There's an electronic chip in my head." I muttered quietly. Who would believe that, honestly?

"Speak up." Valentijn demanded.

"There's a chip in my head." I stated. He looked at me, confused for a moment.

"Like a microchip of sorts, or what?"

"Yes… Uh… it releases information into my mind… It's painful, and I was wondering if we could get it out somehow…"

"Hm. We better take an X-Ray to see if we can find this… chip." He mumbled, marking something down on his clipboard.

About an hour later, two doctors came into my room, one was Valentijn, the doctor form before, and the other was a woman with long brown hair. She was holding the X-Rays, a confused look on her face.

"Alright, Toris, we have the X-Rays of your skull, and from what I can tell, it's pretty… technological in there." He murmured, motioning to the woman.

"This is Elizibeta. She'll explain it to you." He said before exiting. Elizibeta walked to the front of the room and placed the X-Rays on the wall, lighting them up with the flip of a switch.

Both Feliks and I went wide eyed, our jaws going slack.

There, in my skull, was a very small chip implanted behind my left ear. There were lines venturing all around my skull, presumably cords or wires of sorts.

"Well, this is the chip that's in your head, Toris. As you can see, the main little piece is right here." Elizibeta motioned to the small square on the X-Ray. "And it obviously has some wires traversing all around your brain. We would need a brain surgeon to even get near the chip, and we would need a very good one at that. The chip was obviously placed with the utmost caution. If it was placed anywhere else, and these wires were extended anywhere else, you would be dead. Getting it out will take the most precise surgery around, that is, if you wanted to live through it. We're going to have to ask you whether or not you want it to be removed here, or if you want to be taken to a different hospital where they can get it removed correctly. I'm afraid our only brain surgeon here is fresh out of college, and has almost no experience dealing with such a major task."

"… I will only leave this place under one condition." I spoke, still staring up at the X-Ray.

"And that condition would be?" Eliza asked.

"That Feliks comes with me." I laid out those few words, and both Feliks and Elizibeta were confused.

"Why, like, me?" Feliks questioned.

"I trust you, and don't want to be stuck in a place I don't know all alone." I explained. Feliks smiled a bit and nodded modestly.

"Then so totally be it. I'll go with you wherever you need to." He said, saluting me. I forced a small smile onto my face then looked to Elizibeta. She nodded and wrote some things down on her clipboard before walking out.

Feliks, without any warning, stood and walked over to the side of the bed.

"You're, like, brave, Toris." He told me, chuckling a bit.

"If you weren't so damn special I wouldn't have gone with you." He added.

"What do you mean by 'special'?" I questioned.

"You're totally different from most of the soldiers I, like, bring back from the war. You're uncorrupted. You're more cultured. You don't, like, have a soldier's temperament. You're special, you, like, see?"

"… I suppose… I just have more on my mind than a lot of soldiers, literally and metaphorically."

"Yeah… You think of your brothers a lot, don't you?"

"They are so important to me… It hurts me so bad… Last time I saw them they were both dying in front of my eyes… Medic Vainamoinen said Raivis went into a coma… and Eduard… He… He was so brave…" I let out a sad chuckle. "He was sitting there against his cart of supplies before Tino came… His stomach was torn to shreds… There was blood everywhere and he was… He was pale… He was so close to death and yet… He told me to get Raivis to Tino first… Eduard said that he'd be fine… G-God, it just hurts so bad to know that they could be dead…" By this time, tears were rolling down my cheeks as I sifted through my memory aloud. "I remember hugging him a while b-before we went into battle… He w-was so thin… b-but he was so… caring… We e-embraced for a moment... I-It felt so out o-of place… But I'd n-never known a feeling like it… I know that Eduard w-was trying so hard to reassure m-me that he a-and Raivis were going t-to survive everything… B-But… Oh God, I-I can't take i-it…" I cried. Without much of a warning, Feliks sat on the edge of my bed and pulled me into a warm, comforting embrace. I spilled my tears into the shoulder of the PSRB affiliate.

"Shh Toris… It's alright…Tai gerai…" He cooed, rubbing my back gently, almost like I was going to break. I clutched the fabric of his uniform in my hands, my knuckles, sure enough, turning white.

"I know how you feel… Not to know something like that... My parents, like, both abandoned me when I was young… I was totally raised all throughout different families, and I don't, like, remember a thing about my real parents… I wonder a lot about who they, like, are… Or were… I don't even know if they are, like, alive… Know that you're, like, not alone here, Toris. Not at all, okay?"

I managed to nod the slightest bit, still crying a little. I never would have guessed that Feliks had a history like that, but at least I now was acquainted with the fact that he was like me at the moment. We were both wondering about people whom we didn't know were dead or alive.

About fifteen minutes or so later, Elizibeta and Valentijn came back in. Feliks and I had ended our embrace a while ago, but there was an odd form of comforting in the air.

"Alright, Toris… We've located a hospital with one of the most prestigious surgeons around, who is willing to take on the task of getting that chip out." Valentijn explained.

"Where is this hospital?" I asked.

"It's in a city that belonged to my former country, The Netherlands. Most of the Dutch territory now belongs to Germany. So, you're going to Coevorden, Germany." He replied, a bit of sorrow hanging on those last two sentences.

He must have been one of the survivors of the Nuclear War, it really sounded like it hurt him to say that a former Dutch city belonged to Germany.

"Thank you, sir." I acknowledged, nodding a bit to him.

"You're welcome. Now, we're going to wheel you out of here to the helipad, where a helicopter will take you to…" He sighed a bit before finishing his sentence. "Germany."

Elizibeta patted Valentijn's shoulder and he shook his head a bit.

"Anyways, Eliza, get a wheelchair for him then take him up to the helicopter." He ordered before walking out. Elizibeta nodded, and followed him out, turning the opposite way in the hallway.

"Valentijn served in, like, the Nuclear War of 2031. He was only, like, 18 when he was in it though. He was totally a medic, and I can only imagine how much it hurts him to, like, know that his country of birth doesn't exist anymore." Feliks spoke, I nodded.

"It's a shame…" I muttered.

A few moments later, Elizibeta returned with a wheelchair.

"I don't quite understand why I have to take a wheelchair, ma'am… I can walk just fine." I remarked, standing.

"It's hospital policy, sir. Just sit." She ordered, I sighed and took a seat in the wheelchair. It was rather uncomfortable, but at least I didn't have to sit in it for longer than I was required to.

Feliks stood and soon, the three of us were out the door, venturing down the seemingly endless halls. When we finally arrived at the helipad, there was of course a helicopter waiting for us.

"Well, since you say you can walk, why don't you hop on up into the helicopter?" Elizibeta asked, I stood and stretched a bit, boarding the helicopter with no problem. Feliks filed in and sat in the seat next to me. He looked nervous.

"Something wrong, Feliks?" I questioned.

"Heh, s-sort of." He stuttered, looking down.

"What would that be?" I queried.

"I'm sort of... like, totally afraid of heights." He muttered. I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"You're serious?"

"T-Totally."

"Don't worry about it, Feliks. Just close your eyes and it'll be over before you know it."

"O-Okay…." He muttered.

I couldn't help but laugh again. I found it odd that such a brave, willing, Captain of the 3rd Warsaw Regiment in the PSRB, was afraid of heights.

"It's not, like, funny, Toris!" He exclaimed, making me laugh more.

"I'm sorry, Feliks. I just find it so odd that you of all people are afraid of heights."

"Uhg! You're lucky I totally don't get out of this, like, helicopter right now and leave you on your own."

"You know you'd regret it." I said, smiling.

"Yeah, I totally would. That's the only part that sucks." He agreed, crossing his arms. He looked so pouty; I just couldn't stifle my laughter.

"Feliks, I swear to god, you're the most quirky man I've ever met." I told him, he grinned.

"I'll totally take that as, like, a compliment."

xxxxxxx

When we touched down at the hospital in Coevorden, Feliks was completely asleep in his seat, but I for one was wide awake.

"Hey, Feliks, wake up." I said, shaking his shoulder a bit.

"Huh…? Oh, we're, like, here…" He muttered, opening his eyes. He yawned and hopped out of the helicopter after removing his seatbelts, standing next to the awaiting wheelchair. I undid my seatbelts and stepped out of the helicopter, taking my seat in the wheelchair, which was actually more comfortable than the one back in Lithuania.

"So, you're Toris Lorinatus, correct?" The silver haired man behind the chair asked as he began to push.

"Yes." I stated.

"Well, I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt. Mein bruder is going to be operating on your head today. Don't be concerned about him killing you; he's almost as awesome as me." He explained. I was going to question him, but it seemed inapt.

"Thank you, sir…" I muttered.

"No need to call me sir, just call me Gilbert." He replied as we entered the hospital. It wasn't very busy from what I could tell. Doctors were just standing around, doing whatever.

"Gilbert, is that Lorinatus?" I heard a deep voice ask the man behind my wheelchair.

"Ja! You ready for him, Ludwig?" Gilbert asked as a tall man with slicked back, bright blonde hair came into view.

"Yes, of course. I'll take him from here."

Within a few minutes, I was laying on an operating table, at least four doctors preparing things around me.

"You ready, Toris?" Ludwig asked, I hesitated but nodded.

"Alright then, I'm going to need you to take deep breaths." He ordered as he slipped a breathing mask over my nose and mouth.

I did as he ordered, and soon, everything went black.

_The surgery had begun._

ooooooooooooooo

Author's Notes: I feel like this chapter is kind of short… But anyways, here's a bit of information I feel you should know.

Towards the beginning of the chapter, the doctor named Valentijn is The Netherlands (or Holland if you prefer). Valentijn is my name for him since he doesn't have an official name. Elizibeta(Hungary) appeared in here, along with Gilbert(Prussia) and Ludwig(Germany). I promise, next chapter, Arthur(England/UK) will come in to play a big part. I know he hasn't been mentioned in a while, but he will play a big part.

But anyhow, here's Chapter Five. I want to thank all the readers who are still reading and reviewing, you guys are awesome.

_**Please Rate and Review! I don't care if it's positive or negative, feedback is needed! **_~Raivis-Latvijas


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: It makes me feel so good to know that I have people who actually read this story. It makes me very happy.

Anyways, in this chapter, like I promised, Arthur comes in to play a big part. The LietPol kind of stops here, so that obviously means there's going to be some big action going on in the next few chapters.

Without further a-do, here's chapter 6.

ooooooooo

I awoke in a drug-induced daze, a dull ache in the majority of my head, and unable to force back the feeling of sickness in my stomach. I opened my eyes, only to be blinded by bright lights. I lifted my hand and shielded my eyes, allowing them time to adjust to the harsh white surroundings. When I dropped my hand, my vision was blurred, and I was unable to focus in on the objects around me. There were people sitting in the room, but I couldn't quite make out who they were.

There were three of them from what I could tell, and they were speaking in what sounded a lot like Polish. I blinked a few times, shaking my head slightly. One of the men standing there looked to me, then back to the other two men. He said something in Polish, whilst motioning to me. He walked over to my side.

"How're you feeling, Lorinatus?" The man asked, his voice was deep, and bass-like. He was a tall and rather buff.

"I-I can't see very well… But I'm otherwise okay…" I muttered. He nodded once and pressed the button on the side of my bed.

"We'll be transferring you back to Lithuania in a little bit." He told me.

"… How did the operation go?" I questioned.

"Well, I'm not a doctor, but I can say it was successful. You're not dead. And I'm sure your vision will go back to normal soon. They destroyed the chip and disposed of the remains for you, since obviously it wouldn't do any good to anyone." He explained.

"Can I ask who you are?"

"I'm Sergeant Major in the 3rd Warsaw Regiment of the Polish Secret Resistance Battalion. That's all you need to know of me right now."

"You work with Feliks?"

"Captain Łukasiewicz? Yes, I do. He's actually sitting right over there." Sergeant Major motioned to the blurry figure who was sitting down.

"Hey Toris." Feliks greeted, waving a bit. He stood and walked over to me, standing beside Sergeant Major.

"Feliks…" I muttered, smiling a bit.

"How're you, like, feeling?" He questioned.

"Okay… My head is throbbing and I can't see much though…"

"Well, the throbbing is totally from the surgery, and the vision problems are, like, from side-affects from the medications or something. They'll, like, wear off."

"I hope so… Say, do you know where that Ludwig guy is?"

"Yeah, like, why?"

"I want to thank him… for getting the chip out."

"You'll have to do that, like, later, Toris. The doctors are here to totally take you back to Lithuania." Feliks motioned to two doctors walking in the door, one with a wheelchair.

"Wait, aren't you coming with me?" I asked.

"I can't. I, like, have things to do. Arthur will, like, be waiting in Lithuania for you though."

"Oh… Okay…" I muttered. I knew I would have to separate with that Captain soon, but I didn't know it would be like this.

"Don't worry, Toris. You'll see me, like, down the road sometime." Feliks said, saluting me with a smile on his face before exiting. Sergeant Major and the other man followed him out.

I suddenly felt very alone as I was helped into the wheelchair, and wheeled out of the room into the hallway. Feliks, the man I had trusted so much, the man whom had rescued me, was now gone. He had better things to do than continue to help an overburdened soldier like me.

I was loaded onto a helicopter, encumbered by sudden loneliness. I soon found myself high in the sky, watching the land pass under me quickly.

xxxxxxxxx

When I did arrive in Lithuania, it was raining lightly. I was welcomed at the helipad by another wheelchair, a few doctors, and Arthur. I was helped into the wheelchair and rolled inside. The British man walked beside me with a look somewhere between confusion and distress on his face.

I was rolled into a room where the nurse behind my wheelchair helped me onto a bed. My vision had returned to normal, but I had learned that I was slightly on the weak side still.

"We're going to replace the bandages on your head, is that alright?" The nurse asked. I nodded a bit and soon I felt the bandages being unwrapped from around my skull. I noticed that when they got to the bandages that were closest to the wound, there was blood soaked into them. It's not like I didn't expect there to be some bleeding, it's just the amount that was on the bandages got me thinking something had gone wrong.

The nurse examined the stitches in my skull for a moment before grabbing a roll of new bandages. She began to wrap my head slowly once again, and every time she went over the stitches, it hurt like hell

"So, nurse, when is he going to be able to get out of here?" Arthur questioned out of the blue.

"Well, he's recovered very quickly. With any luck, he'll be out within a few hours. When you two do leave, we'll give you some bandage rolls so you can replace them on your own. Since he may still be a bit on the weak side when you leave, I recommend that you keep traveling on foot to a minimum." The nurse explained. Arthur sighed and nodded.

"I got pulled out of Operation SSR because of this guy. I was ordered by my Captain to help save his brothers from the war, and capture the Russian Commander Ivan Braginski. I don't know how I'm going to do it." He mused.

"Looks like you have a lot on your plate, sir. But, no worries. I'm sure you'll accomplish your mission sooner or later." The nurse said as she finished up bandaging my head.

"Wait, you're supposed to capture Ivan?" I questioned. I sat up straight rather quickly, very surprised at the fact that he was ordered to do such a thing.

"Yes. I've been ordered by my Captain to capture your former Commander, Toris. Once you toughen up, you're coming with me since you're the only one who could possibly figure out where he is. Once we have Ivan, we'll then swipe your brothers out of Russia. Got it?" Arthur explained sternly.

"Why do you need Ivan?" I asked.

"Are you defending that man?"

"No, it's just… I find no use in capturing him if the war hasn't spread to the majority of Europe. It is a war between Russia and _China_, not Russia and the _world_."

"I understand where you're coming from, but you realize that he's killed many, many people here, and the other Baltics, right? If he gets tired of these three Baltic Nations, he'll have to move to mainland Europe, starting with Poland, Hungary, and many others that are close to Russia. It will be the Soviet Union all over again."

"But it's not! If we instigate, this war will escalate! And if we capture Ivan, someone is bound to take his place!"

"You don't understand, you git! It's-"

"I do understand, Arthur! I do understand! I may not have only been in the war for a short while, but Ivan will murder all his soldiers before he even gets deep into China! We only had a few hundred men left, hell, not even that, when we were rescued by the Winged Regiment! And I doubt they've gotten far enough to do any real damage! Isn't it obvious that capturing Ivan will do absolutely nothing?"

He stood and clenched his fists tightly.

"**I have my orders, Toris, and you will not keep me from following them!"**

Silence.

That's all that there was after the argument between Arthur and I. The nurse took my blood pressure, which had skyrocketed, and told me to calm down. I nodded subtly, and sighed heavily, lying down on the bed beneath me.

"I'll be back in an hour to check up on you." The nurse said before departing from the room.

Arthur had sat back down, but his fists were still clenched, and there was a frustrated expression on his face.

"You sure that surgeon didn't mess your brain up?" He asked in a joking manner. I couldn't help but chuckle the slightest bit.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't."

xxxxxxxxx

It was around midnight when the medical staff decided to release me from the hospital. I had made a very quick, surprising recovery according to them.

Since my Russian uniform from before had been discarded, Arthur had supplied me with a different uniform. It was the Lithuanian Secret Resistance Battalion's uniform. I felt oddly proud to be wearing such a uniform. The long-sleeve top was grey, with black cuffs on the sleeves. On the upper-arm of the right sleeve was the Lithuanian flag with L.S.R.B. in dark blue stitching underneath it. The pants were black, and the boots Arthur provided me were brown and steel-toed.

As Arthur and I walked out of the hospital, he handed me a cap that looked much like what an officer would wear. It was black, and had a dark blue star in the center of it.

"The Lithuanian Secret Resistance Battalion's Brigadier General contacted me, knowing I was in charge of you. He told me to give you the Warrant Officer's uniform, and that includes the hat. It may help cover up a bit of your stitches, not to mention the hair that you no longer have." He explained. I nodded, slipping on the cap. It irritated the stitches from the operation the slightest bit, but not enough to really bother me.

"Thank you, sir."

"No need to call me 'sir'. I'm not of a very high rank. Technically, since you're wearing the Warrant Officer's uniform, you're seven ranks above me."

"I've noticed you're wearing civilian clothes… If you have a rank, shouldn't you be in a uniform?"

"Yes, actually. I should. But subsequently I was stripped of my rank of Command Sergeant Major earlier this month; my uniform has yet to be presented to me."

"How'd you manage to get demoted?" I questioned. He snorted and shook his head.

"Some bullshit transpired within the ranks and word got around to the General of the Army. He came directly to me and stood me on stage in front of the entire 5th London Regiment of the B.S.R.B. He stripped me brusquely of my rank, and demoted me to Staff Sergeant. Now I have to work my way back up the ranks with the burden of being lower-ranked than the men who I once commanded."

"I understand. I suppose you were ordered to keep watch over me and capture Ivan in order to receive a promotion?"

"If I watch over you until the deadline, I gain the title of Master Sergeant. If I watch over you, and capture Ivan by the deadline, I get my original rank back, and then some."

"So I assume that it's all a matter of personal pride for you to do this?"

"Partially it is. I do want to prove that I am worthy of my former rank to my Generals. But I also do what I do for the purpose that I am helping people like you be more safe and sane."

"More safe than sane. But seeing that we are departing to Russia once again, the matter of feeling safe is going out the window. That country is very dangerous."

"I know that. Captain Feliks and I came too close a few times to being caught on Russian land. I am sure you know more of that danger than myself of course since you were forced into the Russian Army."

"Yes, I remember cowering behind a rock watching my fellow soldiers drop like flies… I only fired one shot that entire battle… I wasn't much of a soldier."

"But you were important to Ivan and his scientists. Now that the chip that was in your head is out, you're not as important to them. But since we destroyed the chip, he'll be out for revenge."

"I can understand that."

"Good. Because, as you know, we're going to Russia. And we have to rescue your brothers and capture Ivan without getting caught. I'm going to presume it'll take at least a week or two to get us home safely."

"What are you going to do with Ivan once he's captured?"

"Well, that's not my decision. My guess is that once we capture Ivan and I take him to HQ, they'll probably detain him and force Russia to pull out of the war it started."

"I see… Well, we better get going, huh?"

"Yes. Follow my lead, Lorinatus."

oooooooooooooooo

Goodness, that was a slow update. I wanted to get this chapter up before tomorrow because I'll be very busy. I'm going to Ohayocon tomorrow, and then everything is gonna just go fwoosh and I'm not going to have any updates for a while. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 6.

Please Rate and Review.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: Some real big action happens here, so be ready.

And to anyone who went to Ohayocon January 29th and saw a Latvia hanging around with a Lithuania, an Estonia, and a Cuba; I was that Latvia.

In Chapter 3 I made a geographical error in a way. The only border Lithuania shares with Russia is the one to the west with Kaliningrad in it. I'm going to make that where Toris was since Russia in fact does not share a border with Lithuania to the East. I am so sorry to anyone out there who lives in Lithuania, Russia, or anywhere around there, and noticed my mistake.

But anyways, here's Chapter 7.

oooooooooooo

Entering Russia wasn't what scared me.

It was the estimated amount of time that Arthur and I would be traveling on foot in Russia that scared me.

We had stopped before we exited Belarus and Arthur had done some math that I obviously couldn't do, converting miles to minutes, minutes to hours, and hours to days. He came to the conclusion that we would be in Russia for around 31 days to get to where we needed to be if we didn't stop. And if we did stop, it would make that 31 into around 40. And then there was the simple calculation that we had to make our way back, which would double the amount of time we would remain in Russia.

All Arthur and I had was two backpacks full of supplies, a map, a compass, and a minor sense of the location we needed to be. We had decided on heading to Novokuznetsk, where the 1st Levyĭ Regiment's Barracks were located. We were dressed in the uniforms of our countries' Secret Resistance Battalions, but under that we were wearing civilian clothes in case we needed to go into a heavily guarded city.

We made our way through the Russian land, avoiding sight most of the time. We entered a few small villages in our civilian outfits, getting through without any form of suspicion. But as we continued to walk, the towns got bigger, and soon we realized that we were in a densely populated area. We had arrived in a large city.

"Arthur, where are we?" I questioned, looking around nervously.

"E-Eh… I'm not all that sure. I can't take out the map at the moment… We'll be too suspicious." He replied, sounding very unsure.

"Damn it… Could we possibly ask around?"

"My Russian is pretty bad, to be honest. What about yours?"

"My Russian speaking is okay, but my reading and writing is horrible."

"Well, then you ask around. There, ask her." Arthur pointed to a woman sitting on a bench. "Maybe she'll give us some answers."

I sighed then walked calmly over to the woman.

"Извините меня, сударыня?" My voice caught the woman's attention. She looked up to me and smiled.

"Да?" She replied. I sifted through my mind on how to ask the right question in Russian.

"Гм ... В каком городе это такое?" I questioned, she looked at me for a moment like I had said something wrong. I braced myself for something bad, but instead, she giggled a bit.

"You are not from Russia, are you?" She said. I chuckled a bit, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment.

"No… I'm not; I'm traveling through Russia with my friend though." I motioned to Arthur, who was standing a few feet away.

"I see. Well, you are currently in the city of Komsomolsk. May I ask where you two are from?"

"Well, we're originally from Lithuania. We've traveled on foot for a long time now. We went through Belarus and a lot of small villages here in Russia."

"Now why on Earth would you want to travel all the way from Lithuania into Russia on foot?"

I froze up. We couldn't tell her the real reason why we were doing this. That would blow our cover for good.

"We're testing to see how far we can push ourselves without much contact with people." Arthur answered. I held in a sigh of relief. That was a good excuse.

"So you two are on a sort of spiritual journey?"

"I suppose you could call it that." I replied.

"Oh wow. That is so adventurous. You two are very brave. Could I possibly treat you to dinner at my place? I mean, if it won't jeopardize your goal, that is."

"Well…" I looked to Arthur for an answer. He nodded a bit, and I looked back to the woman. "We'd be honored to."

"I promise your time here will be enjoyed." She told us, standing and clasping her hands together. She wore a sincere smile on her face, and yet I couldn't help but feel suspicious of her.

"Thank you, ma'am." Arthur stated.

"Oh! I have forgotten to tell you my name! I am sorry, I am Yekaterina." She extended her hand to me and I grasped it. Her grip was rather firm for a woman, and her hand was callused.

I paused for a moment, trying to think of an alias. I couldn't give away my real name.

"I'm Mindaugas." I said, smiling a bit. She then let go of my hand and offered hers to Arthur, who shook it gladly.

"I'm William. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Good, he had come up with a liable alias as well.

Xxxxxxxxx

We entered Yekaterina's home, having chatted the entire time we were walking. Her house was fancy, and yet simple at the same time. It was two stories, and decorated nicely.

"You have a lovely home, Yekaterina." Arthur commented as he took a seat on one of the three tan living room couches.

"It's not technically mine, it's my brothers. Sadly, he's off at war so I have not seen him in a while, but he sends all his money he earns home so that I can pay the bills. I don't have much money, to be honest." Yekaterina explained.

"I see. Well, it is a lovely home. You are lucky to have a brother like that." Arthur replied, smiling.

"Thank you. Ah, would you two like some tea? Or perhaps some water?" Our host offered as I sat next to Arthur.

"Some tea would be fine." My comrade stated.

"Same here." I said. Yekaterina nodded and walked to the kitchen with a smile on her face.

"She's a nice woman." Arthur muttered. "But something seems a bit off about her…" He added quietly.

"I don't really think she'll find out about whom we are or what we're really doing… She seems perfectly fine to me." I retorted.

"I say we try and find out a bit more about her. Like her last name or something."

"It's not like she's going to kill us."

"You never know, To- Mindaugas."

I smirked a bit at his use of my alias. He almost slipped up, but he had caught himself.

Yekaterina soon returned with the tea, handing Arthur and I two cups. I took a sip of mine modestly then set it on the coffee table.

"So, Yekaterina… Mindaugas and I are recording our travels in a journal. We've decided on mentioning you in here, of course. Can we have your full name?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, yes, of course! My name is Yekaterina _Braginskaya_."

Arthur and I both flinched. _Braginskaya._ That was the female version of _Braginski_.

"I'm curious… Would you happen to be the sister of Ivan Braginski?" I questioned. She nodded, smiling.

"Da. That is my brother. He is the commander of the Russian Army."

Arthur and I both went wide eyed. Boy, did we choose the wrong person to associate with.

"Is something wrong?" Yekaterina probed, looking to us with mild concern.

"We have to leave, now." Arthur stated, standing. He set his tea on the table.

"Wait, did I do something wrong? Did I say something bad?" The woman before us rapidly asked.

"Your brother is a terrible man, Yekaterina. He's killed many men, and nearly drove Toris here insane. Ivan Braginski is cruel leader with no remorse." Arthur explained. Yekaterina's eyes filled with tears and she took a step back.

"Th-That's not true! Ivan is a great man; he would never hurt anyone if he didn't have to."

I stood.

"My name is Toris Lorinatus. Ivan had scientists put a chip in my head that caused me to see information from way back in 2031. A Kazakhstani man freed me, and I ran. Arthur here found me along with the Polish Resistance Battalion Captain; Feliks Łukasiewicz after I collapsed, screaming in pain because of what he did. Beforehand, before I learned that I had a chip in my head; Ivan led a ruthless march into China. He executed many men on the way, and almost never stopped to let the regiment rest. When we got into China we were fired upon by Chinese soldiers. The majority of our regiment died there, but we were assisted by a different regiment whom had been traveling down the same road we had been on. They found 400 deceased men on that path. While that regiment was picking off the Chinese, I rushed to my brothers, both of whom were injured very badly. My brother Raivis was in a coma, my other brother Eduard was near death. They were 15 and 17. When the medic came and started treating them, Ivan was behind me. He mocked the fact that my brothers were so close to death, and that I was going to be alone. I stood and told him to his face to shut up. He said no, and then held his revolver to my head. He was grinning and said 'I hope you enjoy my mercy'. He then turned his gun around and smacked me over the head with it. He knocked me out cold. When I awoke, I was in a cell, chained to a wall. Ivan then began to talk to me, and explained everything. That when I learned of the atrocity he had put in my skull. And even before the march, Ivan pulled me from my very home in Lithuania. He and his men barged into my home early in the morning and took me and my brothers. My mother begged for him to leave us, and grabbed his arm, but he simply backhanded her. He and his soldiers approached me and my brothers, then knocked us out. If you think Ivan is an innocent man, think again, because he has caused me and many more people than you could ever imagine a hell unlike any other."

I confessed everything.

Every last detail of Ivan's cruelty, I had just spilled out to his sister.

With that I walked out, fists clenched, teeth grit, tears in my eyes.

Arthur soon followed.

"Are you bloody mad, Toris?" He interrogated, grabbing my shoulder. I turned around and without any logical thinking going through my mind, punched him in the face. He fell back, looking up at me in disgust, surprise, and many other emotions.

"I'll go on my own to Novokuznetsk. I don't need your help anymore. I have the map, I don't need anything else." I snapped.

"You're being a complete idiot, you git! If you leave me behind-"

"You lose your chance for a promotion. I refuse to be used as an excuse for you to be promoted. I have two brothers to rescue. They are all that matter to me at this point, so if you think you're going to stop me, think again you fucker. I am not some tool. I don't care about rank. I don't care about the war. I don't care about the military, the government, the Secret Resistance battalions, or anything of the sort. So I recommend that you leave me the fuck to my own resources and let me find my brothers or die trying."

"Toris, you will get lost and die without the proper navigation!"

"At least when I die I will die _**trying**_."

"And you're saying I don't try?"

"I'm saying that all you care about is you god damn rank in the BSRB."

"I'm loyal to my country and keeping world peace!"

"There's no such fucking thing as 'world peace'! There are wars, and the mourning between them!"

"How do you know that for sure, Toris?"

"Because I've been in war! I've been on the battlefield, I've seen the devastation, I've felt the adrenaline, _**I've been the victim!**_"


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Notes: Ahem, I am sorry for the late update. I got very busy with Karate, School, and stuff happening at home so… Yeah…

But I won't dwell on any of that. To the story!

Oooooooooooooooo

I had never felt such a rage in me. I had never felt so angered, and so unafraid. It was a strengthening combination of hatred and the need of justice.

_Justice…_

That was what I needed. I wanted Ivan to pay for what he had done. If he paid me back, along with all the soldiers he had led into perilous battle, then I would calm down. But first, I had my brothers to rescue.

I spent 3 days traveling nonstop, no sleep, no food, and no water. Just a pure journey through the land of Russia I called god-forsaken. I had left Arthur behind in Komsomolsk, along with a lot of the navigation skills that I needed to get to Novokuznetsk. It was only when I became lost that I realized the fact that I had made a very _bad_ decision.

I looked around me, then down to the map in my hands. I had no idea where the hell I was.

A sinking feeling plagued my stomach. I was alone, lost in a land I didn't know. I had little to no navigation-related knowledge, and a map that I couldn't read to save my life. I clutched the worn out paper in my hands and began to tremble. Everything was finally catching up to me. The hunger, the thirst, the pain, the _memories._

As I stood there, remembering all that I had before, I began to cry. I fell to my knees, sobbing. This was impossible. I had left everything behind for this _suicide mission._

I continued to cry, harder and harder, as memories of my brothers began to play in my head.

The many things that Eduard and I had argued about in the past before this war were pointless now. The many things that I once scolded Raivis for didn't matter now. The _love_ that we had shared as brothers was gone.

If anything, my brothers themselves were gone.

The last I had seen of them, they were both in terrible condition, dying in the field in China. I shook my head at the gruesome memory.

"_D-Don't worry about… me… I'm perfectly f-fine… J-Just get R-Raivis to Tino…." _Those were the last words I had heard from Eduard. I couldn't even remember the last thing Raivis had said to me. It had seemed to be so long ago.

So many things were flowing through me. I held regret for ever leaving Arthur behind. I held desire for revenge. I held agony for never saying to my brothers that I loved them one final time.

Just as I was about to give up and lay down to die in vain, I heard something. It sounded a lot like… _footsteps._

My head jerked up and I ended up staring straight at an elderly, mustached man right in the eyes. His arms were crossed as his beady eyes bored into mine.

"You alright, boy?" He asked. His deep, intimidating voice was burdened with a very thick Russian accent.

"Wh-Who are you?" I stammered, looking over the man. He was wearing a tattered, old uniform. It looked to be a soldier's uniform of sorts, but it was far too old to be anything from this era.

"Just call me General Winter." He replied. He offered his gloved hand to help me up, and I simply stared at it for a moment. I then took it and he hoisted me up to my feet. He was strong, that was for sure.

"How long have you been traveling alone like this, boy?" He questioned, still staring down at me. He must have been at least 6 foot 5 inches tall, if not more.

"3 days alone… I haven't rested or anything since then…"

"Come with me. I have a home nearby." He said, turning and beginning to walk off. I hesitated, but followed. I didn't quite understand what he meant by him having a home nearby. There wasn't a single building in sight in this snowy wasteland.

But soon, things were cleared up. When General stopped he motioned down, and I looked where he motioned. There was a metal door in the ground, hidden from view perfectly.

"After you." He said. I gripped the latch on the door and pulled up, opening it with surprising ease. There was a staircase made of metal which led down to yet another metal door. This one was upright though, and there was a window in the center with light gleaming through it.

I walked down the stairs, jumping a bit as General shut the hatch as he followed me down.

I opened the second door and went wide-eyed. There was a dusty wood-plank floor underfoot, and a rickety looking wood table surrounded by 4 chairs in the center of the rectangular room. There was a small kitchen at the far left corner that had a dirty white stove, an old-looking refrigerator, a wide counter, and a sink. Neighboring that kitchen, there was a large, dark red living chair, where a small book lay. I took a look to my right, and saw an unmade bed, along with a case displaying a large amount of medals on the wall. To my left there was a rather full bookcase, and a desk covered in newspapers, pictures, and letters.

"Are you just going to stand there?" I heard that deep voice ask from behind me. I shook my head and walked in, taking a seat at the table. He walked over and sat across from me, staring at me with somewhat curious intent.

"Where are you from, boy?"

"Lithuania."

"Where exactly in Lithuania are you from?"

"Vilnius."

"I see… Now, why are you traveling through Russia if you're from Lithuania?"

"I'm trying to get to Novokuznetsk, General."

"For what?"

"I'm going to be honest here, so…I am on a sort of mission to rescue my two younger brothers. You see, we were pulled from our home in Lithuania… and forced into the 1st Levyĭ Regiment of the Russian Army… Commander Braginski came with his soldiers… They knocked us out then took us to some labs in Krasnoyarsk… He had his scientists experiment on us… I had a microchip implanted in my head, and I'm not quite sure what they did to my brothers… But when I woke up after the experiments and having the chip implanted, a soldier came and knocked me out… Then when I woke up the second time I was in my Regiment's barracks in Novokuznetsk… We trained a bit, and then were forced into a march south into China, led by Commander Braginski… Many people died as they walked, about 400 I think… A lot of us were sick, including me… But when we got into China, just across the border was a field with little cover anywhere… We were ambushed... I only fired one shot that entire battle… I was so scared, but I took a chance when reinforcements came and ran to my brother's mortar position… They were both hurt very bad… Raivis, my 15 year old brother, was unconscious and bleeding a lot… Eduard, my 17 year old brother, was conscious, but had an horrible wound in his abdomen… I was holding onto Raivis' hand, praying to anything above that he would be alright… Then the Regiment's lone medic Tino Vainamoinen came, and did what he could for Raivis… Concluded that my youngest brother was in a coma… Then went to Eduard… Commander Braginski came up behind me and said something rather uncalled for… I told him to shut up in Lithuanian… He asked me what I said, and I stood and said it in Russian… He refused and laughed, putting his revolver to my head… He said '_I hope you enjoy my mercy' _then flipped the gun around and smacked me in the head with it, knocking me out… I awoke in an underground cell in Kaliningrad… Commander Braginski and I began to talk, and I soon learned of the chip the scientists had put in my head, along with the information that they had experimented on my brothers… But when Commander Braginski wanted me moved to an above ground cell, the man he ordered to move me ended up releasing me outside the facility… His name was Aalem or something along those lines…. But later on after I was freed… The microchip in my head activated and I began to see words and such screen across my vision… It hurt so bad, and it just got worse and worse… I screamed, and some people were nearby… They were two affiliates of two different Secret Resistance Battalions… But they helped me get into Lithuania, and they got me to a hospital where I got x-rays of my skull… We had to be transported to a hospital in Coevorden, Germany in order to get it removed… I was relieved when I got it removed, but when it came time for me to leave, I had to go alone. The Polish Resistance Battalion Captain that had accompanied me throughout the whole ordeal had to leave and go back to his duties, but the other one, the British Secret Resistance Battalion member, was waiting for me in Lithuania… When I got there he and I decided on heading to Novokuznetsk. That is where the 1st Levyĭ Regiment's barracks are, and where my brothers are bound to be… But when we traveled into a city called Komsomolsk and ended up in the house of Commander Braginski's sister, the B.S.R.B. member and I ended up arguing then going our separate ways… I was running on all the hatred, all the pain, all the emotions running through me that I didn't bother to even stop traveling… Since I have basically no navigation skills, I got lost trying to get to Novokuznetsk… and when I realized that, I… I kind of broke down... Then you found me…" I think my story had disturbed General beyond belief. He was staring at me, wide-eyed as if I had just grown another head. When he returned to his normal expression, he leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.

"Let's get you fed and rested up, and then I'll be willing to guide you to Novokuznetsk. It will take a while, but seeing that you are in such a dire situation, I am willing to take you to where you need to be."

I smiled a bit. I was very lucky to have been found by a man such as General Winter. Despite his intimidating appearance, he seemed to be rather agreeable.

"Thank you, General. Thank you very much."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As I sat down on the bed General normally slept on, I looked to the elderly man. He was a mystery, for sure, but kind enough to help someone like me.

"General Winter?" I said. The man turned to me partially from his place in the kitchen, washing dishes.

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you called 'General Winter'?"

He let out a low chuckle.

"I was born in 1971 here in Russia, back then called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or simply Soviet Union for short. I joined the Russian military when I was 18, and served all the way up until 2034, when I was 63. I had become a General by that time, and I was strict. Nothing got past me. People soon began to call me 'General Winter', and the name just stuck. No one really calls me by my real name anymore, and besides, I like the nickname."

"So… You served in the Nuclear War of 2031?"

"Yes. That was a gruesome time for me… I'd prefer if we do not speak of it."

"Alright… But, could you tell me a bit of the time before the Nuclear war? What was it like?"

"It was a very rough time… In the 1990's the Baltics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, which were part of Russia then, gained their independences, along with many others. Things began to look up, but politics became more about oil and war than they did the people and freedom. America and many others in the United Nations, an organization that doesn't exist anymore, were fighting a War on Terrorism. It ended eventually, but things were very erratic when it came to politics. It was like the world was led by a bunch of schizophrenics… And then the war came along and destroyed far too much for me to recall… I remember a lot of the countries that had been destroyed… Being the General of the Russian army, I traveled everywhere with the president for military meetings and such… The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium… They were good places with good people. They deserved to exist, but no one seemed to acknowledge that seeing that they were taken out so mercilessly and annexed by countries such as France and Germany. But enough about all that. Get to resting, boy."

"Why do you call me 'boy'? I'm 23, and my name is Toris."

"I'll call you whatever I like, and 'boy' happens to be what I like to call you. So there. Now zip your lips and rest, boy. We've got a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

Oooooooooooooo

Authors Notes: Again, sorry for the late update. I hope I didn't make you guys wait too long.

But anyways, I managed to slip General winter in there. I portray his character to be a war veteran who's gone somewhat soft over his years. With the math I did, he's 84 in the story. I wanted to put him in this story so bad. Nobody ever puts General Winter in a story as a live man playing a big part!

The next update may be slow as well, but I promise it will be up sometime this month.

Please review, by the way!

~Raivis-Latvijas


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Ah, we're getting so close to the climax of this story! I'm excited just writing this.

There is a song I listened to the entire time while writing this chapter. It's called Miss You by Trentemoller. It is a very good song, and I think it suits the overall mood of the story.

Ah, but enough chit-chat. To the story!~

Ooooooooooooooooooo

General winter was faster than I thought he would be traveling on foot through the rugged Russian land. For an 84 year old man, this guy was fit. He had the energy of a 30 year old, and was keeping a quick pace.

"You coming, boy?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at me. I picked up the pace a bit, trying to keep up with him.

"Sorry General…" I said. He said nothing, and turned his head back to the path ahead.

"If you were trained like a real soldier, not just toyed with then thrown into a massacre, you would be able to keep up with me." He replied. He sounded very serious when it came to speaking of the military, but I expected that. He had been in existence since 1971, far before I had even been thought of in my mother's mind.

"I never wanted to be a soldier." I retorted. I swore he let out a huff of annoyance, but I thought nothing of it and kept following.

Xxxxxxxxx

With a few days' worth of travel behind us, we had reached a very wide chain-link fence, one I recognized to be the one surrounding the camp that held my former Regiment's barracks.

"I'll give you a boost over the fence, but then you're on your own, boy." General told me. I looked to him and nodded. He crouched down and clasped his hands together, and I stepped on them. He hoisted me up with a surprising strength, and I rolled over the edge of the fence easily. I stood straight up on the other side and turned to him.

We looked straight at eachother through the links of the fence for what seemed to be forever. Those beady black eyes bored into my green ones, making my heart beat a bit faster. The man who saved my life, I now had to leave behind.

"Good luck, Toris." He said. I went wide-eyed. He actually used my name instead of calling me 'boy'.

"Thank you, General… For everything you've done for me." I replied. He nodded modestly.

"You're welcome… I hope you succeed in finding your brothers. Now I must bid you farewell…" He turned around and began to stride off, following the tracks we had made in the earth. I stood and watched him until I couldn't see him anymore, then finally turned around.

I looked around; it seemed to me that everything was dull around camp. There was just bland grey everywhere. The buildings, the concrete below, everything…

I took a deep breath and ventured into camp, hugging the walls and staying in the shadows. I had noticed some guard towers around, but couldn't see if anyone was in them. I rounded a corner and saw what I was looking for.

The Infirmary. If my brothers were anywhere, they were there.

As I began to make my way to the building, my eyes scanned all around to see if any danger was heading my way. I had no intentions of getting caught, not after making it this far with so much struggling on the way.

I was just a few yards away from my destination but was stopped in my tracks as a gunshot rang out from behind me. A bullet struck the ground in front of me and I turned my head to look over my shoulder. I then went completely wide-eyed.

"_Happy to see me, da?"_

I was frozen in place. Ivan had his gun pointed straight at me, and was approaching in a General's uniform, smiling.

I heard him laugh.

"You look so petrified, Lorinatus… It's rather amusing." He said as he pressed the barrel of his revolver to the back of my skull. He walked around me, skimming the cold metal of his gun across my skin, and stopped once he was in front of me. That revolver was pressed against my forehead in an all too familiar way, and his eyes were boring into mine. It was just like the other times he had posed this sort of a threat to me, except I knew he wouldn't hesitate to shoot me this time.

"Come on, you think I would just let you go? I found out what Aalem did, and he paid the ultimate price, da. Killed him on the spot with this very gun I am holding to your head." He informed. I wanted to punch him, take his gun, and do anything to get back at this man. He had killed innocent soldiers, and the man whom had freed me.

My eyes scanned over Ivan's uniform, and I could see blood stains on it.

"You like my General's Uniform, Lorinatus? I got promoted thanks to my valiant attack invasion of China… You would have been promoted as well, but you decided to go off and betray your regiment. Now I have to kill you, and you won't be able to say goodbye to your brothers…"

"Don't you dare speak of my brothers, Braginski… They didn't deserve what happened to them. They didn't deserve to be taken away from our home."

"Silly little Lithuanian… I can say what I'd like. You have no say in what I talk about, who I mention, what I mention, or how I talk. I outrank you, and I have quite the advantage here…"

"Why haven't you shot me yet? You have the gun to my head, why don't you just kill me now? Are you too much of a coward to shoot your little experiment?"

I was promptly pistol-whipped for saying what I said. I stumbled backwards, clutching my newly bleeding head. A fresh cut had been opened on my forehead, and it stung like hell.

"Shut your mouth, you pathetic excuse for a soldier." He ordered, his expression being that of annoyance and resentment.

"Why should I?" I looked straight up at him. "You can shoot me. You have the gun. You can shut me up."

He pointed his revolver at me, arm extended fully out, ending up about a foot from my face.

"I will."

He didn't. We simply stood there in a standoff for what seemed like hours until I noticed something. His hand was shaking. The revolver was rattling as Ivan trembled. I looked past the gun to his face, and saw those violet eyes staring off in the distance. He looked as if he were remembering something horrifying, something scarring.

I slowly reached up and wrapped my hand around the barrel of his revolver, and was able to just slip it out of his hand. He remained frozen in the same position, trembling, but not moving. I turned the gun around and held it tightly in my right hand. I looked from the revolver to Ivan multiple times. This was the gun he had used to kill so many people. He was the Commander, no, General of the Russian Army, who had lead so many people to their deaths. I contemplated shooting him, killing him on the spot, but something inside me said to just leave him be. Something inside me felt _bad_ for Ivan.

So I cautiously walked around him, heading to the infirmary. When I walked into the building, there were bunks lined up in rows upon rows of soldiers. Some were groaning in pain, others simply looked dead. A few were just lying there, awake.

I walked down one isle, looking over the soldiers. More than a few I recognized from the Invasion of China. I spotted that Medic, Tino Vainamoinen, lying in one of the beds. He only had one leg. The other was gone from the mid-thigh down, and what was left was heavily bandaged. His stomach, chest, and head were bandaged heavily, the bandages on his head covering one eye. I meandered over and stood beside his bed, looking down at him. His one eye glanced up at me.

"Lorin… atus…." He muttered, his hand slowly drifting up and clutching the hem of my shirt. I grabbed his hand with the one that had previously been holding my head, and squeezed gently.

"What happened?" I asked quietly. This man was the only one who knew the conditions of my brothers."

"W-We…had gotten… helicopters to come for… th-the dead and wounded… Commander… H-He took you personally… back t-to a helicopter… and flew you off somewhere… Your b-brothers… I did what I could… Th-Then… sent them off… on one of the medical helicopters… I… I had t-to continue… So we marched… further i-into China under… the leadership of… the W-Wings… When we got to a-a village… it was calm… No one came o-out of their homes… But Sergeant K-Kozlov of the Wings… he kicked in one of the d-doors… And he was shot i-in the head immediately… We a-all froze up… then all hell broke loose… Chinese soldiers came out… f-from everywhere… They had more firepower than… than all o-of us in the Levyĭ… and Winged Regiments… W-We were massacred…" By now, tears were streaming out of the single eye Tino had. His grip on my hand tightened, and he gave a pained expression. "S-Some of us were lucky… and w-we survived... But not without… loss..."

I was on the borderline of crying myself.

"Go on…"

"Th-The Chinese tortured us… I-I had been shot in the… ch-chest and stomach when… when w-we were ambushed… B-But then they…" He whimpered, the memories and wounds obviously paining him. "Th-They stabbed my eye… and removed my leg w-with a saw… I-I was awake the e-entire time… About twenty m-minutes after that… W-We were rescued… by the 4th Ryeĭder Regiment…. A-and the 11th Tonirovannye Regiment... W-We were brought back up here… A-And we've been here since… O-Oh god, Toris, i-it was horrible…" He cried. A few tears fell from my eyes.

"A-At least you'll heal… You really don't have much of a choice not to try to recover…" I said.

"Th-There is a choice, Toris Lorinatus. Th-There is a choice…"

"Tino, don't you dare die… You have to survive… You're a hero…"

"N-No, Toris… Y-You… You are the hero… Y-You escaped… You did that, you c-can stop this war."

"I can't… Tino, I'm no hero... I haven't survived half of what you have…"

"J-Just get your brothers… They're… here and alive… G-Go to the back of this room… They're in their bed… R-Raivis is out of his coma… Eduard is alive… Th-There is a truck parked o-outside… at the back of this building… Take them to it… G-Get them out of Russia…"

"Not without you, Vainamoinen. Don't give up on living. I'll take you back to Finland, I'll do whatever you want, but I won't leave you here."

"…"

"Stay alive, Tino… I'll be right back."

With that, I began walking towards where Tino had directed me. I soon came to find what I was looking for. My brothers.

Eduard was on the bed against the wall, and Raivis was in the bed next to him. They both went wide eyed as the saw me.

"V-Vend…?" Eduard stammered. I nodded and walked to the side of his bed. We immediately embraced eachother in a tight hug, and I could tell that my younger brother had regained a lot of his strength.

"You're alive…" He said.

"Yeah… I am…" I said as I let go of him. I turned around and was greeted by Raivis standing right in front of me. He hugged me tightly, and I wrapped my arms around him protectively, yet comfortingly.

"I'm so glad you're both alive… I was so worried…" I muttered.

"… I-Is that Commander Braginski's revolver?" I heard Eduard ask. I still had that silver gun in hand.

"Yeah… But let's not dwell on that. I'm getting you two and Tino Vainamoinen out of this place."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

When I had gotten Eduard, Raivis, and Tino out of the Infirmary and into the transport truck, things had begun to get unnervingly tense. As I rounded the front of the truck, I found out why.

There was Ivan Braginski and three heavily armed soldiers approaching me, guns aimed directly on me.

"_You think I'm just going to let you go, just like that, Lorinatus?"_

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Cliffhanger :D

Next chapter will definitely be the pinnacle of this story. I plan on making it a quick update, but if it's not, don't kill me.

**Please Review!~**


	10. Chapter 10

Authors Notes: You guys have probably been wanting this chapter to be up fast since I left you all off on a cliffhanger like that, so here it is, even if it took forever for me to write…

Oooooooooooooooooo

My eyes went wide and I froze up completely. I had gotten my hopes up far too much. I really had thought Ivan was just going to let me off the hook.

"Should we shoot, General?" I heard one of the soldiers ask that crazed Russian.

"Nyet. Not yet. Hold your fire, stay where you are. Only shoot if shot at." Ivan responded. The soldiers simply listened to the orders and remained still.

Ivan approached me, a wicked look in his violet eyes. With a shaky hand, I gripped the silver revolver that had once been in the hands of the deadly man I now was face to face with.

"Now, now, Lorinatus… You know killing me will do you no good. Just drop the gun, and we will discuss this on a more political scale, da?" He stated.

I promptly aimed the revolver at him.

"Tell your soldiers to back the fuck off and maybe I'll agree to negotiate." I retorted. He chuckled and stopped walking towards me.

"Alright. But you must toss the gun aside before I command my soldiers."

I hesitated, but tossed the silver revolver away. It skid across the asphalt before coming to rest about 5 yards away from where I was standing.

Ivan smirked and turned to his soldiers.

"Return to your posts. Resume your regular routine. Mr. Lorinatus and I have matters to discuss."

The three soldiers gave eachother confused looks but turned and left, following the commands given to them.

"Now then… Tell those three in the truck to wait while we head to my domain and negotiate this… situation, da?" Ivan said, his voice laced with a disturbing mix of deception and wickedness. I looked through the window of the transport truck to Eduard, who was sitting in the passenger seat. He nodded slightly, a form of understanding I barely could recognize. I looked back to Ivan, determined not to show any weakness. I was trembling and scared for my life to be honest, but I couldn't let it show. I knew he would take advantage of that and turn my own fear against me.

"Follow me, Lorinatus."

Xxxxxxxxx

It was tense. There were no other ways to describe the feeling in the air between Ivan and I. We were sitting in a dimly lit room, which I figured out was an interrogation cell for captives.

"You are clever. That I have to admit. You had the audacity to run away from the labs with the help of Aalem." Ivan's voice broke the silence like a weak, rusted chain being pulled by a large dog.

"I only want to make a deal with you and be on my way. I have no intentions of staying here and being irritated by your insignificant recalling of my past actions." I retorted, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Hasty, are we? Alright, I can go your way on that. Tell me what you want, and I will state my part of the deal." He replied, smirking. He leaned back in his chair, returning the look that I gave him.

"I want you to disband the 1st Levyĭ Regiment, pay for the soldier's trips back to their homes, and to send the remains of the dead to their respective homes as well. I furthermore want you to pay for prosthetic limbs for those who lost limbs in the battles the Regiment was put through. You were responsible for the Levyĭ Regiment's combatants, but you left them all behind, dead or alive, under the command of the Wings. The majority of them were massacred in China. Those who survived were tortured. When they were rescued, they were simply sent to their corresponding base's infirmary to heal. General, I believe that you need to pay out of your pocket for these brave men. You were the individual who took them from their homes; not only by force, but illegally. You see my point, correct?"

"Da, I see your point unerringly. I know that what I did was a crime, but I refuse to pay money to the soldiers. I will however disband the 1st Levyĭ Regiment and arrange for the distribution of found bodies to their respective places. In return though, I must receive no jail time for my war criminalities."

"Ivan, imagine this for a moment, will you? You are taken from your home by a group of soldiers and forced into a new Regiment in the Russian Army. You are then commanded to march into China with hardly any supplies. When you do get into China, you are sick and dying of things that could be cured if a medicine is taken, or a nice rest is achieved. But you have to follow orders and have to continue on whether you are dying or not. You step into a field, and are ambushed by Chinese men. Your "dedicated" leader abandons you, but you receive reinforcements soon. You push on with the little morale you have, simply because you do not want to be murdered by those higher ranked than you. You arrive in a village. It is calm, quiet, and almost peaceful. But a foolish man in a different Regiment disturbs the peace by kicking in a door. He is killed by soldiers inside the building, and you are ambushed for the second time in your invasion. You are outnumbered and outgunned by far. The vast majority of your comrades are killed, and you are injured. When the shooting is over, the suffering is not. You and the remaining survivors are captured and tortured. You are soon rescued though, and sent back to your Regiment's camp with little medical help. You lay there, still in pain physically and mentally. Your leader has still abandoned you. All you want is to go home, but you can't."

"I still refuse to pay."

By now I was frustrated with the relaxed Russian in front of me.

"How could you refuse to pay the debts you owe to the men who died or were injured because of you?" I questioned, slamming my fist down on the table that separated Ivan and I.

"Simply because I do not feel it necessary. You cannot end a war by taking out a single Regiment from my Army, Lorinatus."

"I do not plan to end the war! I just want justice for what acts you executed!"

He held his hand out across the table.

"I will only disband the Regiment and send the dead to where they belong; in return I will receive no imprisonment for my crimes. It is that or no agreement at all. Shake my hand and allow yourself to leave with your brothers and Private Vainamoinen, with no one to stop you from going back to your homes."

I felt a bead of sweat drip down my forehead as I reached out to grab Ivan's hand with my shaky one. Just before I clasped the Russian's extended hand, a loud explosion was heard outside. Ivan flinched.

"What the hell?" He cursed. He stood then hurried out the door of the interrogation room.

I followed, curious on what caused the boom not even minutes ago.

When we got outside, I noticed men infiltrating the front gates through a giant hole in the stone doors. I looked over their uniforms, wanting to know if they were Chinese soldiers. I went wide eyed as I realized they weren't.

These were the militants of many different Secret Resistance Battalions. I noticed many of the Russian soldiers; like the ones that had been with Ivan earlier, on their knees with their hands on their heads, surrendering. There were helicopters in the sky, and some landing in clearings around camp.

This was a full invasion.

I looked down to my clothes, and then realized that I was dressed in the L.S.R.B. uniform that Arthur had given me so long ago. I smirked to myself. If I ever saw Arthur again, he was going to get a big thanks for giving me this uniform. Without it, I was just another Russian soldier to the S.R.B.'s.

Ivan was standing there, astonished, frozen, and immobilized from the sudden infiltration. I took a chance, and tackled him from behind; using all the strength I had to take him down to the ground. I had caught the attention of a S.R.B. affiliate, whom ran over with a few others to assist me. They tied Ivan's hands behind his back and turned to me.

"Dėkojame už užfiksuoti generalinis Braginski, puskarininkis. Mes priimsime iš čia." I looked to them, wide-eyed. They were Lithuanian Secret Resistance Battalion soldiers.

"Maloniai kviečiame, mano broliai." I replied. They lifted up Ivan, who was resisting, struggling against the soldiers.

"We had a deal, Lorinatus! A fucking deal! Don't you betray me now!" He shouted.

"We never shook on it, General. Our hands never touched." I retorted, smirking.

"I'll kill you, Toris! You're a dead man!"

I shook my head as he was taken away out of hearing range, knowing he was still yelling profanities at me.

I then remembered about my brothers and Tino, whom were waiting in the transport truck. I quickly made my way to the truck, where four S.R.B.'s had them laying on the ground face down and tied up, even though they were obviously unable to fight.

"Hey! Get them up off the ground, those three are not Russians!" I shouted, approaching the S.R.B.'s. The one that seemed to be in charge of things turned to me.

"… Toris?" He muttered, his bright green eyes going wide. I stopped in my tracks.

"Captain Łukasiewicz… I haven't seen you since… since you left me in Coevorden." I said. The Polish man grinned.

"It's totally good to see you again. Like, amazing actually." I couldn't help but break out into a wide smile as I heard that valley-girl accent after so long. I looked to my brothers and Tino.

"Hey, uh, those three guys on the ground? Yeah, let them up." I said.

"Why?" Feliks asked.

"Those two," I motioned to Eduard and Raivis. "Are my brothers. And he," I pointed to Medic Vainamoinen. "Is the medic who saved their lives."

Feliks immediately turned to his fellow P.S.R.B.'s and ordered them to do something in Polish. Before I knew it, both my brothers were hugging me tightly, and Tino was standing there on one leg, smiling. He had good balance apparently.

"Looks like you succeeded in your mission of finding your brothers after all, huh?" Feliks stated. I nodded, almost in disbelief that all this was happening.

"Y-Yeah… I did it. I really did it." I replied, tearing up. He chuckled a bit.

"The war is, like, over for you four. What do you say we get you guys on a helicopter back to where you guys totally belong?"

"Sounds great." Tino said. One of the P.S.R.B.'s walked up to him and handed him a wood crutch, which was gladly accepted with a grateful thanks from the Finn.

"Come on. I'll totally go with you four personally back to your homes."

Xxxxxxxxx

When we were in the air, heading west, Feliks broke the silence between us 5 passengers.

"So who, like, is going to get dropped off where?"

"Well, I lived in Oulu, Finland. Since those three are probably going to the same place, I guess it'd be good to get me where I need to be first." Tino said.

"Alright. And how about you guys? Where are you heading?"

"Vilnius is where all three of us lived." Eduard replied.

"Cool. Well, we're going to head to Finland first to drop off Tino, then it'll be a brief ride down to Lithuania for you guys."

"That works for me." I commented, smiling. Feliks and I looked to eachother, both with the same look of a sort of happiness and accomplishment.

"You know, Toris, you're totally a hero."

"I guess I could be called that. But I don't really want the title of a hero. I'm just Toris Lorinatus, you know? I'm no war-hero."

"Oh, don't be so modest. You know you just saved the lives of a lot of men."

"That reminds me to ask, how did the S.R.B.'s manage to do all that? I mean… Its just really surprising."

"Well, there's this guy, he's totally a former General. Lives out in, like, the middle of nowhere. He contacted us, said he totally saw some Lithuanian S.R.B. captured by Russians in some barracks in Novokuznetsk. I had, like, no clue that Lithuanian was you."

I laughed a bit.

"I think General Winter purposely led you guys to me so I had support. He never did think of me as tough enough to do much."

"Wait, you knew him?"

"Yeah. When I kind of abandoned Arthur in Komsomolsk I ended up getting lost on my way to the barracks. He found me and basically saved my life."

"Wow. It's a small world, even in Russia." Feliks joked, receiving some much needed laughter from the rest of us.

I pondered to myself once the conversation died.

_Was this truly the end of my troubles?_

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Authors Notes: Ah, what a chapter… It feels so good to put this up for you guys.

I think there will be one or two more chapters left for me to write, depending on what I want to do...

But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this so far!

**Please review~**


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: Here's Chapter 11! Sadly, it's going to be the last chapter. I'm making it especially long just for you guys!

Ooooooooooooo

When we arrived in Finland, the airport was bustling with activity. I found it almost soothing. There was no death around here. No chance of getting shot. No chance of losing the ones that mattered most to you in an unjust war.

When we landed, the five of us got out of the helicopter and headed inside the terminal. People looked at us like we were all mutated freaks, but I knew it was because we were all in our uniforms. And not to mention Tino had one leg.

"I can get around on my own, you know. You guys can head to Lithuania." The said Finn told us.

"We'll accompany you until you're totally safe and sound at your home. Hope you don't mind." Feliks replied.

"Oh, I don't mind at all… Just figured you guys would have something better to do than watch over me until I'm back where I need to be." Tino smiled a bit, though there was something kind of empty about it. He probably felt a bit on the useless side, like he was some kind of child to be looked after so he didn't get hurt.

Once we had gotten out of Oulu Airport, we managed to get on a bus and start to go towards Oulu. A man who was sitting across the aisle from me tapped me on the shoulder. I looked to him.

"You are one of the Secret Resistance Battalion guys, aren't you?" He asked. I pondered in my mind for a second whether I was considered an L.S.R.B. or not. I had the uniform, and had technically helped out in the war. I had rescued soldiers from their imminent deaths, so I nodded.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"You and your soldiers are doing great things out there in Russia. We are in debt to you guys for risking everything for our men out there. Thank you so much."

My eyes widened a bit at the heartfelt words of the man.

"Well… You're welcome."

Xxxxxxxxx

When we arrived at our final destination, Tino went up to the front door of a nice two-story house. He knocked on the door, his one eye brimming with tears already. Feliks, Raivis, Eduard, and I stood a few feet back. I was leaning against the porch railing, watching as a tall, golden-blonde, blue-eyed man answered the door.

The man stared in awe at Tino, covering his mouth with an obviously shaky hand.

"Remember me, Berwald?" Tino asked, smiling a bit. The man named Berwald nodded and hesitantly wrapped his arms around the Finnish former-soldier. The two embraced eachother tightly, both spilling tears of an emotion no words could describe. Tino's crutches fell to the ground, but no one cared. The two had finally been reunited after so long.

"I-I thought I'd lost y'…" The elder of the two muttered.

"N-No... You didn't… Th-Thanks to Toris… H-He got me out of Russia." Tino let go of Berwald to motion to me. Berwald looked to me with indebted eyes.

"Thank y'so much…" He said. I nodded with a smile.

"I just did what was right… Tino is one of the bravest men I've ever seen. He saved my brother's' lives. I owe him so much still."

"Bringing him home's more than enough…" the man replied, turning around slightly. A small boy appeared in the doorway, staring up at Tino.

"Mama?" The child asked. Tino nodded.

"I'm home, Peter… I'm home." With a bit of help from Berwald, he went down on his one knee and tightly hugged his son.

The four of us watching all couldn't help but smile. It was heartwarming to see such a broken man as Tino being put back together.

Once the Finn stood back up and placed his crutch under his arm, he turned to us four.

"Thank you guys… This… This is the nicest thing anyone could have ever done in my life… When I was lying in that bunk after being rescued, I thought I wanted to die… B-But you, Toris… You made me realize that life was still worth living. E-Even if you aren't going to admit it, you'll always be a hero." He said, his lip quivering. I took a few steps towards him and hugged the ex-soldier. He hugged me back, clutching the fabric of my uniform in his hands. I held back tears myself as the Finn cried into my shoulder.

"Th-Thank you for everything you've done, Toris… I-I'll never forget it… ever…" He managed to say through soft sobs. I smiled and let a few tears fall down my cheeks.

"I-It was nothing… I just did what I thought was right. I knew you had family here… I knew that you couldn't let yourself die."

We both managed to calm down within a few moments and we separated. Tino smiled then glanced back to his family. He looked back to me and pat my shoulder.

"You guys run along to Lithuania now. I'm safe and sound here at home." He said. I nodded.

"It was great knowing you, Vainamoinen. Maybe we'll see eachother sometime in the future." I replied.

"Yeah, maybe. See you around, Lorinatus." He spoke before heading inside on his crutch, his family following. When the door was shut, the four of us outside headed back to the street to catch another taxi back to the airport.

Xxxxxxxxx

When we got on the helicopter, and were lifting off, I took a glimpse at the resident P.S.R.B. I smirked slightly as I remembered his fear of heights.

"I still can't believe someone like you is so afraid of heights." I said. He looked to me and grinned, laughing.

"I'll totally get over it someday. Hopefully soon though, because I seem to travel a lot at high altitudes." He replied. I chuckled.

"You do. Say, are you still going to be Captain Łukasiewicz after all this? I mean, you're bound to get promoted, right?"

"I'm actually thinking of giving up my, like, position in the P.S.R.B. to settle down. I've done a lot, and have totally done far more than my part was ever meant to be. I miss my old life that I had before the S.R.B.'s… I was a farmer back in Poland. Hard to believe, huh?"

"You? A farmer? That is extremely hard to believe."

"It's totally true though. I loved it too. I… I don't even know what my parents and grandparents are thinking about me. I kind of... just left them behind after living with them all my life on the farm." There was a hint of regret in the Polish man's voice, and I could understand why.

"I'm sure they're missing you and want you home." I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I bet they totally are too."

As the helicopter lifted off, I looked out the window. Peace was such an unusual thing for me, but it was a good kind of unusual. After all I had been through… I deserved some peace.

Xxxxxxxxx

Vilnius felt different after being away from it for so long. It was almost as if nothing and everything had changed while my brothers and I were gone. As we walked down the street with Feliks, my eyes wandered over every detail of my home city. People stared at us, but we didn't mind. We weren't soldiers anymore. We were citizens in uniforms.

"I wonder if mom's alright…" Eduard muttered. I began thinking of the woman whom had raised my brothers and I, the woman whom had tried so hard to protect us from danger, the woman whom tried so much just to keep us happy.

We walked up to the all too familiar house and knocked on the front door. When the said door was opened, the lady behind it went wide eyed.

My brothers and I were soon wrapped in the warm, comforting embrace of our mother, tears being shed by each one of us. Even Feliks was moved to tears by the scene.

"I-I thought I h-has lost you boys…" Our mother cried.

"Y-You didn't… W-We survived it all…" Eduard stuttered.

Our mother's teary eyes turned to Feliks who was standing a few feet away.

"Wh-Who's this young man?" She asked.

"H-His name's Feliks Łukasiewicz. He's a Polish Secret Resistance Battalion Captain, and he saved my life… along with the lives of many, many others. He's a true hero." I explained. Our mother approached the Polish man and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you s-so much, Feliks. H-How could I ever repay you?" She questioned.

"You don't have to repay me. I'm, like, just happy to do my part." Feliks replied, smiling.

My mother unwrapped her arms from around the Pole, smiling.

"Everyone come inside. Relax for a while. I'll make a great dinner to celebrate the return of my boys. You are welcome to stay for a while too, Feliks."

The five of us were soon gathered in the living room, chatting quietly.

"So what was the war like? Not many soldiers around here talk about it." My mother asked out of the blue. Eduard was the first to answer.

"It was tough… We were mercilessly led by the Commander of the Russian Army into China… We were ambushed in a field just over the border, and it was horrible… Our Regiment, the 1st Levyĭ Regiment, lost the majority of its men in the fighting... It almost lost Raivis and I. We were hit by a mortar round at our own mortar position… I managed to stay awake and suffer through my wounds, but Raivis… He went into a coma, and had some pretty serious wounds… We both survived though. I'm not quite sure what happened to Toris. By the time I started paying attention to my surroundings, he was gone." He explained.

"As it turns out, all three of us had been experimented on after we were taken from here. You two got some kind of enhancements done to you among other things… But me… I had a chip in my skull that was salvaged from 2031. I didn't know it was there until I was taken to some place near Kaliningrad after the Invasion of China. Ivan had knocked me out after our medic had started working on Eduard and Raivis… And apperantly had taken me to some labs where I discovered I had the chip in my head. I escaped the labs with some help from a Kazakhstani man named Aalem… And was soon on my way back here. In the midst of my traveling, I discovered that what Ivan had told me about the chip was true. It did release information into my mind, albeit very painfully. I was sitting there against a tree in complete agony, and I screamed, being heard by two Secret Resistance Battalion affiliates. One being a man named Arthur, the other being Feliks here." I motioned to the Polish man sitting next to me.

"They helped me out, and soon took me into Lithuania where I learned how serious the problem with the chip in my head was. I was in the hospital and they had taken x-rays of my skull… The wires of the microchip snaked all around my brain, and were extremely close to places that would kill me if damaged. We made the decision to head to Coevorden, Germany to get it removed by a brain surgeon named Ludwig. When we got there, the surgery went on successfully. The chip was disposed of, and I had to head back to Lithuania. Feliks couldn't come with me though. It kind of killed me a bit inside since I had grown to trust him in such a short amount of time. But anyways, I came back to this beautiful nation to meet up with Arthur, the British man from before, and what happened was rather… adventurous. We traveled across Russia on foot, trying to get to Novokuznetsk, where Eduard and Raivis were, without being found by Authorities. We ended up in some city…Komsomolsk I think it was… But we ended up meeting the sister of Commander Braginski, and everything spilled over for me when she complimented her brother. I told her everything he had done to me. And then I stormed off. Arthur got pissed off that I had done that and we began to argue. I punched him in the face then went off on my own, which wasn't smart. All I had was a map, which was useless because I have the navigations skills of a rock." Light laughter was received from my small joke, which made me smile.

"I got lost in the barren wasteland of Russia, only realizing that after three days of traveling nonstop. I broke down in the middle of nowhere, to be found by an elderly Russian General who actually lived out there in a secret underground home. General Winter, as he liked to be called, helped me recover from my ordeal, and navigated me to the 1st Levyĭ Regiment's camp in Novokuznetsk. When I got there, he helped me over the fence, and we separated. Little did I know that he had contacted the S.R.B.'s of many different places when he got back to him home. But anyways, I walked into the camp where I was soon confronted by the very man who had led me into China without mercy. He aimed his gun at me, and we argued for a bit. But… Something happened and I ended up taking the gun from him and continuing on to find Medic Vainamoinen in the Infirmary… He was the guy whom had saved Eduard and Raivis' lives, and he was in horrible condition. He had a leg missing, and his eye was gone… Man, he wished for death, but I stopped him. He was a hero to me, and I knew he had family back in Finland where he came from. At some point in our conversation, he told me where Eduard and Raivis were. I went to where he had told me, and I found them. We were reunited after so long of being apart. I can't express how it felt… But I knew we weren't safe yet. We ended up taking Vainamoinen with us to escape in a truck behind the infirmary. Everyone was in except for me, and as I walked around to truck to get to the driver's side, three heavily armed Russian soldiers and Commander, actually General Braginski then, spotted me. I ended up tossing Braginski's gun from earlier aside and heading to some building that was like an interrogation building and began to negotiate on some things with him. We were just about to shake hands, agreeing on a deal that would break apart my regiment and send the dead back to their respective places, and dub him innocent of any crimes... But just before our hands touched, an explosion rang out. Braginski and I both rushed outside to see what had happened, and I soon discovered that the S.R.B.'s of many different countries were infiltrating the base. I tackled General Braginski from behind, holding him down until I got assistance from some Lithuanian, yes, Lithuanian S.R.B.'s. They took him away, and I returned to my brothers and Tino, that medic… I found them on the ground, surrendering to some Polish S.R.B.'s, and there, standing right in front of me, was Feliks. When we realized who we were, Feliks quickly let Eduard, Raivis, and Tino up. We left the camp in a helicopter, heading across Russia to Finland, where we would drop off Tino. When we got there, it was very emotional… He was reunited with his family, and his young son… It was so heartwarming, just indescribable… There are no words to even begin to describe what it was like to have brought that medic home. But anyways, after we had left… we came here, and thus came back home to you, mother." I think that was the most I had ever spoken in my life. I had just told my story, the story of my time in the war.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, about an hour after sunset, Feliks was getting ready to depart. He was sitting on the porch outside, staring up at the stars, and I was sitting next to him. My mother and my two brothers were inside doing whatever.

"You ever, like, wonder what life would be like if this war totally never happened?" Feliks asked. I looked to him for a moment, and smiled as I looked back up at the stars.

"Yeah, I do." I replied.

"What do you think it would totally be like?"

"I think… I think it would be a lot less stressful, and a lot less heartbreaking. I think of all the men who died, and all their loved ones who suffer because of it. But without this war, I never would have met the great men who've made a difference. Like you, for instance."

"I'm not that great."

"Yeah, you are. You may not realize it, but you've saved hundreds upon hundreds of lives by starting the Secret Resistance Battalions. And even when you're not affiliated with them anymore, your legacy will live on."

"But what about you? You got the tyrant General of the Russian army captured and sent to prison for his crimes against his own Armies."

"I'm no hero. I'm just a man with a sense of good."

"You've totally got far more than that, Toris."

"Like what?"

"I don't really know. But you do. It's, like, hard to explain."

I chuckled lightly.

"I know what you mean. It's that unspoken quality that people have when they've been through too much to comprehend."

"Totally."

"You know, Feliks, I'm glad you were the one to find me in that forest in Russia… Without you, I probably would have never gotten home."

"It was my job to do that… But to be honest, I'm glad I, like, rescued you too."

"We'll both go down in history for what we've done… You being one of the men to found the very first Secret Resistance Battalion, the one to faithfully rescue soldier after soldier, the one to assist the innocents in this war…"

"And you'll go down as the soldier who survived hell to rescue those he cared about, the one who put everything behind for the sake of those who mattered…"

We both smiled at eachother, and then looked back up to the stars. My hand slowly reached over and clasped Feliks' gently, a faint blush creeping onto both our cheeks. Neither of us peeled our eyes away from the sky above though.

"I'd like to see you again someday, Feliks… As more than just a friend." I said.

"Totally… I would too. When I give up my position as Captain and head back to Poland, maybe you should come with me."

"Yeah… That sounds good to me."

"Yeah… Hey Toris?"

"What?"

"Do you think this is the last war there will ever be?"

"No… Everyday… It's just a different war. Another day, another war."

"Another day, another war, huh? That sounds about right."

"Yeah… Another day, another war…."


End file.
